The lawyer for a man convicted of assaulting three fellow inmates in seemingly unprovoked attacks is asking the court to give him extra jail credit for the time he has spent in segregation.
Justin Jennings, 34, pleaded guilty to three assault charges, a charge of driving while prohibited and three breaches of court orders in relation to incidents between January 2017 and last month. The Crown withdrew a number of other court order breach charges.
The three assaults happened at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary — while Jennings was serving time on convictions for driving, weapons and drug-related offences — and prosecutor Dana Sullivan played surveillance video of them for the court. In each one, Jennings appears to suddenly lash out and punch a fellow inmate in the head for no reason.
On Jan. 11, 2017, Jennings was serving time at HMP for charges related to dangerous driving, weapons, drugs and attempting to evade police. He was in the visitors’ area, speaking to his girlfriend through a glass partition, when he suddenly stood up and approached an inmate who was sitting three seats away, visiting with his own girlfriend. Jennings is seen punching the man in the side of the head and putting him in a headlock before throwing him to the floor. About a dozen correctional officers then enter and handcuff Jennings before taking him away.
In the meantime, the victim’s girlfriend, unable to help her boyfriend, is seen rushing toward Jennings’ girlfriend and attacking her. She was never charged.
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“Looks like my girlfriend had the worst assault of all but nothing happened after that. Why not?” Jennings said to the court as the video was played.
In the second video, which was captured last March, Jennings is shown on the phone in the special handling unit while two other inmates stand nearby, watching TV. Jennings appears to become agitated before hanging up the phone and approaching one of the other men, punching him in the face, throwing him to the floor and kicking him. The other man bangs on a door to get correctional officers’ attention and appears to try to persuade Jennings to stop the attack, before the officers enter and take Jennings away.
The last video was captured just over a month ago, and shows a group of inmates sitting around chatting, while another man is on the phone. Jennings is seen walking over to that man, punching him and dragging him away from the phone before getting on his knees and raising his hands in preparation for officers’ to enter and detain him.
Neither of the three victims agreed to give statements to police, and none of them had any lasting injuries.
The driving while disqualified charge was laid after Jennings — released on bail — was spotted pulling into a Marie’s Mini Mart in C.B.S. days before Christmas last year. He went into the store and bought beer before getting back into the truck and driving away. He was arrested the next day when he went to RNC headquarters for his court-ordered check-in and has been in custody ever since. He was also charged with breaching court orders, since he had been banned from establishments selling alcohol.
Sullivan submitted Jennings’ lengthy criminal record, which includes convictions for possessing stolen property, assault, resisting arrest and causing a disturbance, to the court.
During his time in prison over the past year, Jennings has been in and out of the special handling unit, disciplinary segregation (known to inmates as “the hole”) and the protective custody unit of HMP, as well as in the Waterford hospital.
His lawyer, Ken Mahoney, asked Judge James Walsh to give Jennings extra credit for the time he has spent in segregation, arguing the time was exceptionally long and amounted to a particularly harsh punishment in Jennings’ case.
Questioning HMP assistant superintendent Diana Gibbons on the stand, Mahoney pointed out Jennings has a diagnosis of ADHD and had returned from an assessment at the Waterford with a prescription for anxiety medication, but it was taken away from him by the prison medical unit.
Gibbons said she had put in a request that Jennings continue treatment with the prescribing doctor, as per his wishes, but noted she doesn’t have the authority to direct certain doctors to see certain inmates.
“Dr. Gill is an HMP doctor and she prescribed the medication, but you don’t have the authority to see he continues taking it?” Mahoney asked Gibbons.
“No, I don’t,” she replied.
Jennings’ girlfriend, Alyssa Dodd, cried as she sat behind Jennings in the courtroom Thursday. After court, she told members of the media Jennings’ time in segregation at HMP combined with the discontinuation of his medication had destroyed his mental health. She said Jennings had requested not to be transferred to certain units of the prison, and warned HMP officials he was likely to have an episode that would cause him to lash out if he were moved there.
“Since Justin got arrested in December … I’ve noticed a massive and drastic change in his personality and mental health,” Dodd wrote in an email, adding that the stress of her boyfriend’s situation has taken a toll on her as well. “He has not been himself in any way and the jail is making it so much worse than it has to be, and hasn’t offered or helped him in any way possible.
“Segregation ruins a person’s mental health and (this) has been proven in many cases, and sadly Justin is one of those people.
“The way he is getting treated has been in every way unfair and sickening.”
Mahoney will continue his submissions to the court April 6, and Jennings is expected to take the stand.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
