Psychiatric assessment ordered for man charged with weapons offences

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on June 20, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 37-year-old man accused of firing a gun in the Town of Coaldale and then again at a motorist, insists he’s crazy and should have a psychiatric assessment.
“I do drywall by myself and talk crazy to the walls,” Danial Mark Ferguson told a judge Friday in Lethbridge court of justice. “Everyone thinks I’m crazy.”
Justice Jerry LeGrandeur wasn’t convinced, however, and told Lethbridge lawyer Marcus Mueller to present additional evidence that will warrant ordering a psych assessment at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatric Centre in Calgary (SAFPC).
“Do you need me to kill myself or kill someone else?” Ferguson asked the judge.
Ferguson faces two charges each of pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, and mischief causing damage under $5,000, as well as single charges of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, dangerous driving, and failure to comply with release conditions.
Shortly before 5 p.m. May 26 RCMP responded to a report of a shooting at a home in Coaldale. When police arrived the alleged shooter had already left, and was reportedly driving toward Lethbridge on Highway 3. Police said he also shot at another motorist.
The suspect was stopped at the intersection of Highway 3 and 43 Street in Lethbridge, and arrested by RCMP and Lethbridge police.
“A pistol was located in the vehicle and was determined to be a Winchester BB gun replica of a 1911 pistol,” officials said in a news release.
After Ferguson repeatedly interrupted the proceedings and had to be told not to, LeGrandeur asked him what he thought about his mental state
“I am crazy, I’m just telling you that right now” Ferguson said. “I could kill myself right now, today then. Right on. Let’s do this.”
Despite the alleged offences and Ferguson’s behaviour in court, LeGrandeur refused, in the absence of substantial evidence, to grant the psychiatric assessment under Section 672 of the Criminal Code to determine whether the accused was, at the time of the commission of the alleged offence, suffering from a mental disorder so as to be exempt from criminal responsibility.
However, after the matter returned to court on Monday, Justice Erin Olsen made the order for a 30-day psychiatric assessment based on Mueller’s submissions that Ferguson is suffering from mental health issues.
“They’re very troubling allegations about an assault on his father, which he has no memory of, and then also running around in his uncle’s house wielding a BB gun that was a replica of an actual firearm,” Mueller said.
“Dan has very little recollection of any of this. He’s very confident he had a psychotic break that day.”
Although there was some concern that SAFPC may require the accused to enter pleas and sign an agreed statement of facts before it will agree to conduct a forensic assessment, both the judge and Crown prosecutor noted they were not familiar with that criteria. The judge noted she had ordered psych assessments many times without it, and Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles said he, too, was surprised by the previously unknown policy.
“I’m actually indignant on behalf of the court that anybody would decline its order,” Giles said. “I didn’t realize that was an option.”
The matter is scheduled to return to court on July 17 to determine whether the assessment has been completed.

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