A man on trial for an attempted murder in the Chilliwack River Valley may not be fit to stand trial after all.
But while a forensic psychiatrist deemed Peter Anthony Kampos to have some unspecified psychotic illnesses, that doctor did conclude he is mentally fit.
Both Crown counsel John Lester and Kampos’s lawyer Mark Swartz, however, disagreed with Dr. Robert Lacroix’s conclusion, so now a hearing will be held in early December to see if the trial should continue or if he should be confined to a psychiatric facility.
The issue of Kampos’s fitness to stand trial was in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack on Tuesday. He appeared via video link from the Surrey Pre-trial Centre, while his lawyer and Justice Martha Devlin appeared via telephone.
It was there that Lester read what he deemed to be a significant portion of Lacroix’s eight page report: “Despite my opinion that he’s satisfied the ‘limited cognitive capacity’ there is evidence that Mr. Kampos’s rational understanding of his current legal predicament is impaired by his psychotic illness.”
On Tuesday, Crown asked a second psychiatrist for an opinion on Lacroix’s report, and she found him unfit.
The charges relate to a shooting incident in the Chilliwack River Valley on March 25, 2017. That day a man was shot while sitting in his car on the side of Chilliwack Lake Road. That man, Cameron Rose, was hit in the right shoulder but managed to escape the scene, racing down Chilliwack River Road and stumbling across a military training exercise where he was taken care of by a solider with First Aid training.
Jury selection for the case took place on Oct. 1 for the trial, but at the last minute Kampos re-elected for judge alone.
He is charged with three counts: attempt murder with a firearm; discharging a firearm with intent to wound/disfigure; and intentionally discharging a firearm into or at a place, knowing that or being reckless as to whether another person is present in the place.
Questions over his mental fitness lingered in the background from the outset, but defence did not raise the matter until Oct. 22. Kampos’s own father has spoken to The Progress about his son’s serious mental health issues, which include a diagnosis for schizophrenia and several elaborate paranoid delusions.
But it was on Oct. 22 that Swartz finally told the court he was concerned about Kampos’s mental state as the accused said he thought there was collusion, tampering with evidence and that he was being set up. At that time he was sent for the forensic psychiatric examination, the report from which was discussed in court on Tuesday.
Swartz disagreed with Lacroix’s conclusion, arguing that he thinks the psychiatrist conflated Kampos’s general understanding of the criminal justice system with his specific understanding of the proceedings against him. For example, Kampos has suggested the judge is not unbiased and a finding of guilt is a foregone conclusion.
Both Lester and Swartz made submissions to Justice Devlin on Tuesday, agreeing that a fitness hearing should be held. She ordered one and that is scheduled for two days on Dec. 3 and 4 in New Westminster.
Whether or not an accused is deemed fit to stand trial in criminal court is up to a judge, not a psychiatrist. Crown’s psychiatrist will give her opinion as evidence on the Lacroix report on Dec. 3, but it will be up to Justice Devlin whether or not he is deemed fit.
If he is deemed fit, the trial will continue with defence submssions. If he is deemed unfit, he will be detained and can be forced into treatment at a psychiatric facility. His mental fitness will then be periodically assessed until he is deemed fit so the trial can continue.
• READ MORE: Mental fitness questioned of man charged in Chilliwack River Valley shooting
• READ MORE: Attempted murder in Chilliwack River Valley goes to trial
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