It will be another month before Darcie Clarke will know whether the father of her three children — the man who murdered them in 2008 — will be subject to new legislation that could label him a high-risk accused.
Lawyers were in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday to argue whether a lawn enacted in 2014 could apply to Allan Schoenborn's murder of his children in their Merritt home seven years ago. He was later found not criminally responsible for their deaths and has been a patient at the Forensic Psychiatric Institute since 2010.
The Crown argued Bill C-14 could apply retrospectively to a person who has been found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder (NCR) because, unlike a rational person basing their actions on anticipated consequences, an NCR accused was not making rational decisions at the time of the incident and did not behave with an understanding of expected future consequences.
Schoenborn's lawyer stated the law should have no bearing on crimes committed before it was enacted, noting the federal government provided little clarity on the matter when it wrote the legislation and it wasn't the court's place to do so.
Lawyer Peter Wilson also emphasized a recent test of whether Bill C-14 could be applied retrospectively failed in Quebec, in the case of a Montreal man who was found not criminally responsible for killing two pedestrians with his car.
Clarke family spokesperson Dave Teixeira said the law was written specifically with Schoenborn's case in mind, not only so that the victims' family could be spared the agony of annual review hearings but also so that Schoenborn could dedicate more time to treatment.
"He's spending so much time fighting this as opposed to getting better," Teixeira said outside B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. "He's not interested, nor are his psychiatrists and psychologists, in getting him better. They're just interested in getting him out of the hospital."
The high-risk accused designation would mean Schoenborn's review hearings would be up to every three years instead of annually. It would also essentially revoke the escorted day passes he was granted earlier this year and could keep him locked up indefinitely.
"He'd really have more time to focus on his rehabilitation… Right now, every year, he's scheming on how to get out," Teixeira said.
The court's decision will be read on Dec. 8.
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