Intellectually disabled defendant is fit - judge
Jarett Wayne Fraser Heuff, 25, of Pomeroy Ridge, understands charges, court process and communicates well enough to take part in defence on charges of touching minor
With one psychiatrist deeming a Pomeroy Ridge man being unfit and another finding him fit, a judge had to decide between the conflicting opinions.
And on Friday, she came down on the side of the latter.
Jarett Wayne Fraser Heuff, 25, of Clark Point Road in Pomeroy Ridge, about 50 kilometres south of McAdam, is accused by the RCMP of sexually assaulting and sexually touching an underage girl in McAdam between Oct. 30-31, 2021.
Defence lawyer Edward Derrah has put his client’s mental state at issue in the case, and a full hearing was held last month in Fredericton provincial court to determine if he’s fit to stand trial.
During that hearing, court heard from two psychiatrists - Dr. Tunde Apantaku and Dr. Christopher Bryniak - and while both made similar findings about Heuff’s limited capacity for communication and challenges in understanding concepts, they differed on the defendant’s fitness.
Tunde said while Heuff was able to explain the charges against him and understood the roles the various parties play in the court process, his undeniable cognitive delays make it difficult for him to participate fully in his defence.
However, Bryniak - whose opinion the Crown sought after Tunde’s report was filed with the court earlier this year - agreed Heuff suffers from a pronounced intellectual disability that does amount to a mental disorder.
However, the doctor testified, the defendant does understand what’s happening and can communicate information and instructions on his defence, given the proper supports.
Judge Natalie LeBlanc, in rendering her decision on fitness Friday, noted that Tunde is mainly a child psychiatrist, but that aligns to a certain degree with examining Heuff, as he’s been assessed as having the mental capacity of a 12-year-old.
She noted that this marked the first time Tunde conducted a forensic psychiatric assessment for consideration by a court, while Bryniak is one of only two psychiatrists in the province who specializes in that field and has done hundreds of such examinations.
The judge also pointed out that unlike Tunde, Bryniak met with Heuff in the absence of his adoptive mother, who had a tendency to influence the defendant and to provide answers he would adopt.
LeBlanc said the test for a finding of fitness is that a defendant is so on a balance of probabilities, and she found that Heuff met that test.
After the decision, Derrah asked the court to order a new psychiatric assessment, this time to determine if his client might be exempt from criminal responsibility at the time of the alleged offences due to his mental disorder.
He noted Bryniak, in his report and testimony on fitness, said criminal responsibility might be an issue in Heuff’s case.
Crown prosecutor Brett Stanford took no issue with the defence request, and the judge ordered the new assessment, to be conducted in the community.
LeBlanc set the case over to Feb. 26 to give the Horizon Health Network time to find and assign a psychiatrist to conduct the examination.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.