Judge rules man accused in Vancouver festival attack is fit to stand trial

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The man accused of ramming his SUV through a busy Vancouver street festival this spring is mentally fit to stand trial for 11 counts of murder and 31 of attempted murder, a judge ruled Wednesday.

B.C. Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris made the assessment of Kai-Ji Adam Lo’s fitness after weeks of interviews by a psychiatrist in the hospital where he is being held.

Earlier Wednesday, the Crown had approved 31 new charges of attempted murder in addition to the existing 11 counts of second-degree murder. Vancouver police said that as of last week, two victims remained hospitalized in stable condition.

Mr. Lo has been in custody since April 26, when he was detained by bystanders and then arrested at the scene of the attack on the Lapu-Lapu Day street festival, a celebration named after the Indigenous hero who fought back the Spanish colonization of the Philippines archipelago.

The judge ruled Mr. Lo is able to conduct his defence and communicate with his lawyer, but ordered him to remain detained in hospital because of his mental illness.

How the horror of the deadly Lapu-Lapu vehicle attack unfolded

The incident devastated British Columbia’s large Filipino community and the province as a whole.

Kristina Corpin-Moser, executive director of Filipino BC, the group that organized the event and has steered the mental-health response for dozens of survivors, welcomed the judge’s ruling Wednesday from outside the courthouse on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

“People have a lot of unanswered questions – they want to see justice,” she told reporters. “This is, by and large, the desired result, so it brings a lot of relief to the community to hear that this is proceeding to trial.”

Justice Harris reserved judgment to Thursday afternoon on whether media can report more details about the fitness hearings held over the summer.

A media consortium that includes The Globe and Mail is fighting to lift a publication ban that covers the details of the fitness decision. It also bans reporting on the description of a drawing Mr. Lo made after his arrest, as well as the expert testimony in July by two doctors who weighed in on several years of Mr. Lo’s psychiatric history and personal life.

The testimony of independent psychiatrist Robert Lacroix and Rakesh Lamba, the medical director at the psychiatric facility, also included their opinion on his diagnosis, past treatment and present mental condition.

The Globe has previously reported the 30-year-old had no criminal record and was twice detained and hospitalized under B.C.’s Mental Health Act in the past two years. He was on an extended leave from the hospital while under supervision by a health team at the time of the attack.

It was also reported that a day before the attack, he had contacted police complaining of strange smells in his vehicle, one of the more than 100 police interactions he has had over the past two decades, most of which involved Mr. Lo’s unfounded complaints.

His mental-fitness hearing was paused over the summer as the provincial court awaited a new ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada on an unrelated case involving the issue of fitness to stand trial.

Report on Lapu Lapu festival tragedy recommends Vancouver develop measures to mitigate vehicle attacks

A majority of the high court said an accused is fit when they are able to make and communicate reality-based decisions in the conduct of their defence, or instruct counsel to do so.

The majority said this includes choices relating to the exercise of their right to full answer and defence – such as decisions about pleas, the mode of trial, selection of counsel, whether to testify, whether to call or cross-examine witnesses, and closing submissions.

“This necessitates a reality-based understanding of the nature or object and possible consequences of the proceedings, as well as an ability to understand the available options and their consequences, and to select between those options when making decisions,” Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin wrote.

“The accused is not required to make decisions in their best interests, but cannot be overwhelmed by delusions, hallucinations, or other symptoms of their mental disorder when making and communicating these decisions.”

A finding of fitness to stand trial does not preclude a defendant from arguing they were not criminally responsible for their actions at the time of the offence.

With a report from The Canadian Press