Canada’s highest court has restored the acquittal of a Calgary man who consumed alcohol and magic mushrooms and then violently attacked a woman while in a state of extreme intoxication.
The Supreme Court rendered judgments today for three cases that considered whether people who commit certain violent crimes can use the defence of automatism⁠—a state of extreme intoxication to the point where they lost control of themselves.
Janet Hamnett was badly beaten in January 2018 by Matthew Brown after he broke into her home. (Court exhibit)
Justice Nicholas Kasirer, who wrote the unanimous decision, says the section of the Criminal Code that barred the use of this defence for certain acts is unconstitutional.
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