Photo by Photo Submitted
ASSESSMENT ORDERED – Judge Scott Brooker order a dangerous or long-term offender assessment for Michael Nehass on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of the RCMP
Court orders assessment for offender
A Yukon Supreme Court justice has ordered a dangerous or long-term offender assessment for Michael Nehass.
A Yukon Supreme Court justice has ordered a dangerous or long-term offender assessment for Michael Nehass.
Justice Scott Brooker released his decision Tuesday.
He ruled the 31-year old will be assessed before he is sentenced for crimes committed four years ago.
Last May, a jury in Whitehorse found Nehass guilty of forcibly confining a Watson Lake woman and using a weapon to assault her.
The Crown asked for the assessment after Nehass was convicted.
In his decision, the judge noted that assessment itself is a mere procedural step with a low threshold of proof required to order it.
“In my view, therefore, engaging in a lengthy and drawn-out evidentiary investigation would be counterproductive, adding unnecessary expense and delay to a summary procedure,” Brooker wrote.
The Crown met that threshold, he ruled.
The offence Nehass was convicted of qualifies as a “serious personal injury,” the judge noted in his decision.
“A court might conclude that there may be a reasonable possibility of eventual control of the offender’s risk in the community and therefrom it might find that Mr. Nehass meets the necessary criteria to be declared a long-term offender,” the judge wrote.
He ruled the same for the dangerous offender designation.
The judge also decided a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms application Nehass had filed last November would not be heard before the assessment order was considered.
Alleging lengthy delays and abuse at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, he was asking the court to stay the proceedings and release him from custody.
Alternatively, if the court ruled against that remedy, Nehass was asking the court to stay the assessment order.
The Charter challenge has yet to be heard.
The assessment order itself only means a specialist will make a report after meeting with Nehass.
Depending on the outcome of that report, the Crown can decide to seek the designation.
A dangerous offender designation would see Nehass behind bars for an indefinite period of time – or until the National Parole Board deems it safe for society to release him.
A long-term offender designation allows for more supervisions after his release from prison, up to 10 years.
Last November, Yukoner Mark Lange was designated a dangerous offender.
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Comments (7)
Up 18 Down 1
what about his victims? on Feb 1, 2016 at 12:01 pm
Let's ask his victims what they think of his arrangements. And ask them how they feel about him being let free. And if they have recurring nightmares and fear anytime something triggers a memory.
I hate how the "justice" systems seems to be there to protect the criminals and not the victims.
Up 25 Down 2
Mark Ackerman on Jan 30, 2016 at 9:54 am
@politico who cares how the inmates feel about the "hole"? These are convicts we're talking about. What bothers me is that we live in a society now where convicts are using BS tactics to better their time spent for the dirty deeds they've committed. Prison should be about punishment not sad attempts at rehabilitation. If found guilty, take away all their rights except the right to live. But as long as there are whiney bleeding hearts like you, expect more of the same as others that follow him, on how to manipulate this lame system we have in place.
Up 45 Down 1
ralpH on Jan 28, 2016 at 4:26 pm
@Politico never said he should be in solitary confinement. The public good is better served if this individual is not at large. There are ways to do this without solitary or simply warehousing him. He just does not fit into society, as we know it and am sure he cannot be rehabilitated.
Up 5 Down 54
Politico on Jan 27, 2016 at 11:14 pm
Prison food sucks, confinement sucks and ralpH makes confinement sound like a vacation. Solitary confinement drive people mad. You should try the hole for a while to see if it's really as grand as you think it is!
Up 44 Down 3
jc on Jan 27, 2016 at 9:57 pm
He may be disturbed, but he knows the system better than the experts.
Up 59 Down 1
moe on Jan 27, 2016 at 5:07 pm
I feel sorry for the guy, but more innocent people should not have to get hurt in order to prove up the fact that he is too dangerous to be walking around loose. The woman in Watson Lake was just one of his victims.
Up 72 Down 5
ralpH on Jan 27, 2016 at 4:12 pm
That would be the best result for Him. Anything else would put the public at risk. Good food, lodging, and help for the rest of his life, is something this taxpayer has no problem footing the bill for.