Former Mount Royal University student Matthew Brown has been charged with breaking and entering and aggravated assault after an incident in 2018 in which he attacked Janet Hamnett with a broom. The victim had broken bones in his hands.

The case is one of three ruled by Canada’s Supreme Court on Friday. All three faced the question of whether defending extreme intoxication to the point of automatism was possible for those who chose to use drugs and commit violent acts.

The other two cases involved two men in Ontario who, after using drugs, stabbed members of their respective families while in a state of psychosis.

Twenty -eight years ago, the Parliament of Canada made changes to the Criminal Code, prohibiting the use of this defense in cases of voluntary intoxication. This resulted in an article that was not very well written, which led the judges to give it a different interpretation.University of Calgary law professor Lisa Silver wrote an article about the three cases.

The court ruled that the section of the Criminal Code prohibiting the use of this defense was unconstitutional.

Although I was very disappointed with this decision, it is not about me now. More important is to consider the negative effects on victims [en général]adopted, by e-mail, Janet Hamnett.

In its decision, the Supreme Court held that the section of the Criminal Code that prohibits the defense of automatism violates the Charter in two ways.

First, an intent to be intoxicated is not an intent to commit a violent offense and, second, an accused can be convicted without having to prove by the Crown that the act was intentional.

In its 104-page decision, the Court called on the Parliament of Canada to pass legislation to protect victims of violent crime committed during extreme intoxication, emphasizing that this is an urgent and meaningful social goal.

The Brown Affair

On the night of January 13, 2018, then -student Matthew Brown met with friends in the community of Springbank Hill, Calgary. They drank wine and ate magic mushrooms.

Around 4:00 a.m., his friends noticed him standing naked outside the front door of the house. Then he ran out and disappeared into the night.

The victim lives alone in a nearby residence. When he got out of bed after he woke up to the noise, he was confronted by Matthew Brown, who then attacked him with a broom.

He suddenly stopped and left the house. Matthew Brown was found by police inside the home of another neighborhood resident.

Prior to Matthew Brown’s trial in 2019, a Calgary judge broke the law prohibiting the use of extreme intoxication defense to the point of automatism, clearing the way for defendant’s attorney to argue that his client was incompetent develop the intent necessary to commit the crimes.

In May 2020, Matthew Brown was acquitted by a Superior Court judge. At the time, it was believed that the case was the only one in Canada that relied on a successful defense against extreme intoxication under the influence of magic mushrooms.

Fourteen months later, the Alberta Court of Appeal revoked the acquittal after ruling that the defendant must bear the consequences of his illegal drug use.

The case went to the Supreme Court of Canada, which chose to restore Matthew Brown’s acquittal.

With information from Meghan Grant