A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge hearing the case of a man who assaulted an Antigonish psychiatrist in 2018 has rejected his claim that he was in a state of automatism at the time.
Representing himself at the hearing, James Timothy Cecil Barron insisted that he had been suffering from automatism caused by alcohol use and seizures when he assaulted Dr. Faisal Rahman outside the doctor's home on May 6, 2018. Dr. Rahman had been preparing to go out for the evening with his wife when he found Barron in the back seat of the family sports utility vehicle. When the psychiatrist asked Barron why he was in the vehicle, Barron then demanded the car keys and began searching the vehicle when Dr. Rahman denied having the keys on him. He then exited the vehicle and demanded the keys again. When Dr. Rahman refused, Barron became physically violent and pushed his victim to the ground.
He then began punching Dr. Rahman in the face shouting, "I want to teach you a lesson. Why did you lie to me?" and continue punching even after Dr. Rahman offered to give him the keys. When he tried to move away, Barron began choking him in an attack that lasted for ten minutes. It only stopped when the doctor's wife, Sobia Jamal, exited the house and screamed at the sight of Barron assaulting her husband. Barron looked at her briefly and began walking away. After paramedics were called to the scene, Dr. Rahman was taken to hospital where he was treated for bruises and lacerations, a fractured nose and the loss of two teeth. He would later require dental surgery involving bone grafting and implants.
During Barron's trial, the court heard from his sister, Heidi Barron, who testified that she, her parents, and her brother had attended a party at a nearby house as a celebration of her graduation from university. Though she didn't seem him again until later that evening when the R.C.M.P. came to the family home to arrest him, she later learned that her parents had taken his vehicle when they left the party. She also reported that her brother appeared disoriented with no memory of what had happened to him before he came home. She also testified that he had a history of seizures that often left him with no memory of what occurred afterward.
In testifying for the defense neurologist Dr. Michael Rathbone stated that he reviewed James Barron's extensive medical history and agreed that the defendant was prone to episodes of automaton-like behaviour. Given that Barron had been drinking that evening, Dr. Rathbone acknowledged that alcohol could have left Barron in a state of mental confusion that might have led to the assault. Despite this evidence, Judge Nick Scaravelli stated wasn’t convinced that James Barron “was in a state of impaired consciousness to the extent that he did not have voluntary control over his actions at the time of his altercation with Dr. Rahman.”
Although automatism is legally defined as "a state of impaired consciousness, rather than unconsciousness, in which an individual, though capable of action, has no voluntary control over that action," Judge Scaravelli concluded that Barron's actions failed to meet that definition. "“In contrast to Dr. Rathbone’s opinion as to what a person in the state of automatism would not do, Mr. Barron was able to make cogent verbal and physical responses when communicating with Dr. Rahman and throughout the assault, thereby demonstrating elements of decision-making and control," he ruled. Still, while finding Barron guilty of assault causing bodily harm, the judge also concluded that the Crown failed to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Barron intended to steal Dr. Rahman’s SUV" and he was not found guilty of attempted theft.
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