The Criminal Justice Branch has filed an application under the Criminal Code to have Allan Schoenborn designated as a high-risk accused.
The application has been filed in British Columbia Supreme Court in New Westminster, and a first appearance has been scheduled for the afternoon of September 10.
Schoenborn murdered his three children in their Merritt home back in 2008 and has lived at the Colony Farm Forensic Psychiatric Hospital since being found not criminally responsible for the crimes due to mental disorder.
The mother and family of the victims have been notified of the decision to seek this designation and legal counsel for Schoenborn has received notice of the application, a press release from the criminal justice branch stated.
Being labeled a high-risk accused would prohibit Schoenborn from going on escorted trips into the Tri-Cities area.
It also means the BC Review Board can hold Schoenborn without release at the hospital and conduct his review hearings up to once every three years instead of annually.
The BC Review Board recently granted him the permission to request escorted outings and the province’s criminal justice branch announced it would not seek an appeal of the BC Review Board’s decision.
In July 2014, the Criminal Code was amended through Bill C-14 to enable a finding of high-risk accused for adults who have been found not criminally responsible for a prescribed serious personal injury offence.
To succeed on an application, the Crown must establish that either there is a substantial likelihood an accused will use violence that could endanger the life or safety of another person, or the offences the accused committed were of such a brutal nature, they indicate a risk of grave physical or psychological harm to others, the press release stated.
Factors that a court considers in deciding whether someone meets the test for high-risk include, but are not limited to, the mental condition of the not criminally responsible accused at the time of the application, the past and expected course of his treatment, and the opinions of experts who have examined the accused, the release goes on to state.
It will be up to a Supreme Court judge to decide whether Schoenborn meets the legal test for a high-risk accused. The Criminal Justice Branch will endeavour to have the application determined prior to Schoenborn’s next annual hearing before the BC Review Board, which is expected in May 2016.
If the application is not completed before that time, the Criminal Justice Branch will consider requesting an adjournment of the annual hearing pending determination of the high-risk application.
A high-risk designation can only be revoked by a court.
