A Vancouver man convicted of second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a fellow resident of a psychiatric facility will face a new trial.
Yasin Rashid, then 23, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2019 death of 29-year-old Kyle Gabriel.
When he first faced court proceedings, Rashid’s lawyers argued that he should be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD), while Crown lawyers argued he should be convicted of second-degree murder.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge found that the Crown had proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, but B.C.’s highest court has now said the judge made errors assessing Rashid’s intent to kill.
“The judge’s ultimate conclusion that he was bound to convict Mr. Rashid … was a conclusion reached in the absence of any consideration of specific intent or whether the lesser included offence of manslaughter was available,” B.C. Appeal Court Justice Janet Winteringham wrote in a decision released Tuesday.
“There was no analysis regarding the impact of his mental disorder on the issue of specific intent.”
A new trial will be ordered in the case as a result of the Appeal Court finding.
Stabbing at facility
Second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence, has two components that Winteringham wrote are essential to convict a suspect.
The first is that prosecutors establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person on trial committed the killing — and the second is that they had the intent to kill.
In Rashid’s case, the former was not disputed by either his lawyers or Crown prosecutors.
On Sept. 10, 2019, Rashid and Gabriel lived at a mental health facility for young people in Vancouver’s West End.
The judgment says Rashid had been diagnosed with schizophrenia the year before, and described hallucinations, paranoia, and the belief that “people were following him and trying to kill him.”
Before the killing, he told staff at the facility that he was experiencing visual hallucinations again after he had stopped taking anti-psychotic medication.
At around 8 p.m. PT on Sept. 10, a fellow resident saw Rashid and Gabriel together in the latter’s bedroom.
A few minutes later, staff members heard loud screams, and Rashid was seen fleeing the facility “looking shocked and wide-eyed,” the judgment reads.
Gabriel then came down the stairs holding his neck, which was bleeding profusely, according to the judgment.
He later died in hospital. A bloodied knife was found in Gabriel’s room, and an autopsy confirmed that Rashid’s DNA was on it.
Intent to kill
Rashid’s defence lawyers asked for a finding of not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder, which necessitated a psychiatric assessment.
After that was completed, the lower court judge in the case found that Rashid was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the stabbing, but rejected the NCRMD defence.
The B.C. Appeal Court justices found that the Supreme Court judge who convicted Rashid did not properly weigh his intent to kill in the case. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Winteringham wrote that she was unable to determine how the lower court grappled with the issue of Rashid’s intent to kill — and that his intent to kill Gabriel was not established in court.
Rashid’s conviction for second-degree murder has now been set aside, and he will face a new trial.