Killer seeks lighter restrictions
Review will determine if move to general unit will pose risk to public
A woman, found not criminally responsible for the December 2015 stabbing death of another woman in a downtown Toronto Shoppers Drug Mart, appeared Thursday before a review panel ruling on whether to lift some of the restrictions on her while she undergoes treatment at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
“This is (an) issue about us managing the risk,” said Joseph Nevberger, chair of the fiveperson Ontario Review Board panel.
He indicated the board will rule next week, on whether to allow CAMH the discretion of relocating Rohinie Bisesar from a secure women’s forensic unit, to a general unit, where she would have access to a variety of programs and passes, including one allowing her to roam outside the premises.
The hearing, held at CAMH’s Queen St. W. site, featured submissions from the Crown, legal counsel for the hospital and the lawyer for Bisesar.
Bisesar, 43, who stabbed Rosemarie Junor, 28, in the heart in the Shoppers store, has been undergoing treatment for schizophrenia, including command hallucinations and beliefs that external forces were controlling her movements. She’s been receiving treatment at CAMH since December 2017, almost a year before she was found not criminally responsible (for her actions) by Superior Court Justice John McMahon, in November.
Crown, Micheal Feindel, said there is a “very reasonable likelihood that she would be good candidate for relocation to a general unit.”
While he supported her relocation, Feindel said it was premature to allow her unsupervised community passes.
“This board needs concrete evidence, to say we’re satisfied she’s reached that point,” he said. “She has a significant way to go.”
CAMH psychiatrist, Dr. Ipsita Ray, testified that, although Bisesar showed some remorse for the victim’s family, she had a significant lack of insight about the gravity of her illness, her treatment and the risk she poses to the community. Ray said Bisesar’s lack insight is a major hurdle.
If permitted to enact a “hybrid disposition,” CAMH’s clinical team would monitor her progress, then decide on transferring her and potentially allow staff-escorted community passes, before she comes up for another ORB hearing.
In making CAMH’s case, lawyer Michele Warner said Bisesar has responded well to antipsychosis medication. Bisesar has had supervised access to the CAMH grounds without issue, Warner said.
“There’s a lot of good things going on,” Warner said. “It’s in light of that, that the hospital is suggesting she be transferred to a general unit over the forthcoming year.”
The timing of Bisesar’s move would hinge on her progress.
“We don’t know exactly when, but within that (one-year) period, she would be ready for the move,” Warner said.
Warner called Bisesar “forthcoming, engaged,” and receptive to medications, therapy and counselling.
While public safety is the board’s paramount concern, it must craft a ruling that addresses Bisesar’s rehabilitation and potential reintegration into society, Warner noted.