Judge dismisses media attempt to report details of mental-health history of accused in Lapu-Lapu case

Media outlets will not be able to report on the mental-health history of the man accused in the Lapu-Lapu Day street festival attack before his eventual trial on 11 counts of second-degree murder and 31 counts of attempted murder, a judge has ruled.

On Thursday, B.C. Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris dismissed an attempt by a media consortium, which includes The Globe and Mail, to lift a publication ban on details of this summer’s hearing into the mental fitness of Kai-Ji Adam Lo.

That fitness hearing – which included the results of numerous assessments by a pair of psychiatrists over a number of weeks – concluded Wednesday with the justice ruling the 30-year-old could understand enough of the proceedings to face an eventual trial.

Justice Harris told the court on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Thursday that publicizing these details could dissuade future defendants from co-operating with court-ordered psychiatric assessments when their ability to stand trial is in question.

He added that it could also make it too difficult to choose an impartial jury, throwing Mr. Lo’s Charter right to a fair trial into jeopardy.

Releasing this sensitive personal information before a trial might further taint jurors, the judge said, noting that officials have already stated Mr. Lo should spend the rest of his life in prison.

“These kind of comments highlight some public sentiment and pose a risk to the fairness of the trial,” Justice Harris said.

Mr. Lo is accused of driving his SUV through the crowded South Vancouver street festival on April 26. After the attack, B.C. Premier David Eby labelled Mr. Lo a “murderer” in the legislature. The Premier later apologized for using “intemperate language,” but the comments drew criticism from the B.C. arm of the Canadian Bar Association.

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Justice Harris said lifting the publication ban and then moving the trial to another city in search of an impartial jury wouldn’t work because people across the province are likely to already have consumed some of the extensive news coverage about the attack. The people of Vancouver are also owed reasonable access to the trial, he added.

Lawyer Daniel Coles, representing the media consortium, had argued that lifting the ban would be in the public interest and that many people are already aware of certain details, including that Mr. Lo had “significant interactions with police in connection with mental-health issues.”

The Globe has reported the 30-year-old had twice been detained and hospitalized under B.C.’s Mental Health Act in the past two years, and was on an extended leave from the hospital while under supervision by a health team at the time of the attack.

After Thursday’s decision, Mr. Coles said the judge recognized the massive public interest in this coming trial, but he ultimately came down on the side of protecting the defendant’s rights.

“It’s disappointing for the media and I think it’s going to be disappointing to some members of the community, but that’s what we pay judges to do, right? Make hard decisions,” he said.