Judge grants assessment to see if suspect in Vancouver festival tragedy is fit for trial
CBC
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, the suspect in the Vancouver street festival tragedy that left 11 people dead, has been ordered to undergo a mental fitness assessment to determine if he is fit to stand trial.
The application for the assessment was brought by Lo's legal counsel, Mark Schwartz, and was granted by Judge Reginald Harris in provincial court Friday afternoon, a few hours before a memorial mass for the victims of the car-ramming attack.
Lo, 30, who is charged with eight counts of second-degree murder, appeared at the hearing via video link, sitting slumped over with dishevelled hair, and wearing red prison clothing.
His fitness assessment will be done from an in-custody facility with mental health professionals.
All other details of Lo's appearance are covered by a court-ordered, pre-trial publication ban. Harris said the ban was necessary to ensure a fair and unbiased trial and jury should the case proceed to that end.
Lo is accused of driving an SUV through a crowd of people at the Filipino community's Lapu-Lapu Day street festival on Saturday. Beyond the 11 people killed, dozens of others were injured in the alleged attack.
His next court appearance is May 30 when the fitness report is to be submitted to the court.
Vancouver police said earlier that more charges against Lo are expected. The British Columbia Prosecution Service told CBC it continues to receive and review disclosure materials from the Vancouver Police Department relating to the ongoing investigation.
Friday's mass at the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver at 5:10 p.m. is part of a provincial day of remembrance and mourning for the victims.
Premier David Eby who is expected to attend the mass, said the day of mourning would give people time to reflect on those who died and show solidarity with the Filipino community.
Eby, who was a human rights lawyer before going into politics, delivered a full-throated denunciation of the suspect during question period in the legislature on Thursday, saying the suspect "should spend the rest of his goddamned life in jail."
He was responding to Conservative Peter Milobar, who asked why Eby could voice his opinion on the suspect when government had said in the past that it couldn't discuss the deaths of children or seniors in care because matters were before the courts.
Eby said he struggled to understand Milobar's position.
"Because my opinion is that the man made the decision to drive a vehicle into a crowd of children, parents, and seniors, volunteers, kill them," said Eby.
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