Michael Nehass has filed an application in Yukon territorial court, alleging abuse of process and violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms at the Whitehorse jail.

As remedy, he seeks a reduction in his sentence for five territorial court charges or a stay of proceedings.

This comes after a jail report was filed in court Tuesday, which shows Nehass has been kept in either the Whitehorse Correctional Centre’s (WCC’s) segregation or secure living units – two units isolated from the general-population area – since May 2013.

In his application, Nehass says the rights he’s entitled to under the Charter have been abused, namely: his right to life, liberty and security, his right not to be arbitrarily detained, and his right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

“The applicant states that for much, if not the entire time while on remand at WCC he has been subject to egregiously unlawful and otherwise unlawful conditions of confinement, including, though not necessarily limited to, long-term segregation and separate confinement,” the document says.

The application also mentions correctional officers’ “excessive demand and use of force” when bringing Nehass before the court in January 2014.

In that incident, he was naked, shackled and accompanied by three guards in riot gear when he appeared by video from the jail.

The presiding judge apologized to Nehass for this last November.

Nehass also writes in the application that his treatment and separate confinement have “directly resulted in a deterioration of his physical and mental well-being which has further directly contributed to the commission of offences currently before the Court ....”

First arrested in 2011 for eight charges including assault with a weapon and forcible confinement, Nehass has racked up other charges during his three years in custody as he awaited trial for the original 2011 matters.

A trial for those charges is now scheduled for May in Whitehorse.

In the meantime, Nehass has pleaded guilty to five charges laid in the jail, including causing thousands of dollars’ damage to the segregation unit, attempting to escape the jail and spitting on a correctional officer.

A two-day sentencing hearing was held this week, and a second stage has been scheduled for March 25 and 26, and April 29.

That’s when Nehass will argue his application and present evidence to support his claims.

According to case law, when the court finds there has been an abuse of process, it may deem it suitable to have charges dropped or a sentence reduced.