Andre Denny will be allowed unsupervised overnight stays at an unsecure bungalow on the grounds of the East Coast Forensic Hospital.
On Dec. 4, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overruled a Crown challenge to a decision by the Criminal Code Review Board to grant greater access to the public for Denny.
Denny was first admitted to the hospital in 2012 after being declared not criminally responsible for an attack on a young woman. On April 12 of that year, the Criminal Code Review Board granted Denny a conditional discharge with a number of restrictions on him in the interest of protecting the public.
Four days later, Denny escaped the hospital and killed prominent LGTB activist Raymond Taavel outside a bar on Gottingen Street in downtown Halifax.
Denny eventually (in 2016) pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years in jail, which he has been serving at the East Coast Forensic Hospital.
The review board has been gradually granting Denny greater freedoms.
In December 2018, the board increased the ceiling of Denny’s privileges to L5, a level that allows consecutive overnight stays in an unsecure bungalow on the hospital grounds without direct supervision.
“The team goal is to move away from programming towards structured activities in the community. There are no definitive plans to use the bungalow,” reads the board’s decision to extend privileges.
“The team wants to see more independent community outings before overnights are implemented. Work will have to be done with the family as well."
The Crown appealed the decision, claiming that the board didn’t properly consider the public’s safety nor did it offer a thorough explanation of its decision to extend Denny’s privileges.
Justice Carole Beaton disagreed.
“… All of the evidence provided to the Board at the hearing, and all of the historical context referenced in the hearing and in the decision, concurred as to Mr. Denny’s ongoing progress in responding to treatment and gradual increases in his level of privileges,” reads the judge’s decision.
“The decision makes it clear that Mr. Denny’s success with increased levels of community access after his initial hospitalization, and certainly after the events surrounding the death of Mr. Taavel, were measures of progress that could justify for the Board their decision to increase the level of privileges from L4 to L5.”
Beaton did characterize the board as having used “economy” in explaining its decision to grant Denny greater freedoms, but did not find fault with it.
