The Impact of Mental Health Issues on Assault Defence Strategies

Mental health issues can have a significant impact on assault defence strategies as well as the strategies defending against other serious criminal charges. This is a broad topic, and the ways that mental health issues can impact a defence strategy depend on whether mental health played a role in the perpetrator’s or the victim’s actions—or both. In today’s blog, we will touch on a few of the key ways that a defence strategy may be shaped around mental health issues.

Can the defendant stand trial?

The first issue would be whether the accused can even stand trial. There is a high bar to reach to claim that an accused cannot stand trial. However, if the person accused of assault is shown to be clearly suffering from acute mental illness, then there may not be any trial at all.

Could insanity be used as a defence?

Another possibility is that the accused is fit to stand trial but did not know right from wrong during the commission of a crime, in this case, assault. In Canada, this is called not criminally responsible due to mental disorder or a NCRMD defence.

Could mental illness of the accused or the victim be a mitigating factor?

Here, during the trial or during sentencing, mental illness could be a mitigating factor. If the victim suffered from mental illness, then a self-defence strategy could be possible. If the accused suffered from mental illness, and the defence can clearly show this, mental illness could elicit sympathy from the judge or jury.

The point here is that mental health issues can affect a criminal defence in many obvious and less obvious ways. The defence lawyer will be exploring these possibilities while interviewing the client and the witnesses before trial to see if and how it impacts a criminal case. 

Gagan Nahal is a criminal defence lawyer based in Surrey, British Columbia, although he has represented clients across Canada. He works vigorously and tirelessly defending his clients. 

If you have any questions about this article or you would like to talk to Mr. Nahal, please call him directly at (604) 527-4769.