Due to be sentenced next week on charges related to an armed standoff with police in 2016, Jason Earle was in provincial court Thursday afternoon to deal with charges related to a different standoff.
Earle, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of pointing an imitation gun, making threats to damage property, and two court order breaches, making a deal with the Crown to have six remaining charges withdrawn.
Earle's lawyer, Jennifer Curran, told the court Earle has no memory of the incident, which took place over a number of hours last Sept. 10 at a two-apartment home on Kennedy Road.
"He has little to no recall of this. He was probably psychotic," Curran said, indicating she had originally considered arguing for a not criminally responsible verdict in the case, but decided against the lengthy process.
According to a statement of facts, a woman living in the upstairs apartment of the bungalow had gone to the downstairs apartment, where Earle was living, after hearing a commotion around 6 a.m. on the day in question. She found Earle with what she described as a blank look on his face, holding a hammer, which he used to hit the wall four times after she asked him to keep the noise down. When the woman told him she was going to take photos of the damage, Earle told her, "I'm going to ruin everything you own."
The woman went back upstairs, but later went outside and found Earle standing by her car.
"At that point he pointed what she believed to be a handgun at her. She was close enough that she attempted to push it to the side.
"Mr. Earle just stood there and held (it) with both hands, pointed at her."
— Crown prosecutor Richard Deveau
The weapon wasn't recovered, though it's believed to have been a BB gun.
Earle lowered the gun after about 30 seconds and walked away. Police received a call about three hours later saying he had returned and there was a fire inside the apartment where he lived. When officers arrived, they found an article of clothing on fire and extinguished it without damage to the apartment. Earle was also in the residence, holding a knife to his throat and telling police to shoot him.
"Mr. Earle told the officer at that point to shoot him. He said he was refusing to come out, and saying at that point that he did not want to go to jail, he wanted police to shoot and kill him," Deveau said.
When Earle eventually permitted two officers to enter the apartment, they found him sitting on the floor, bleeding from his neck. He was arrested and taken to St. Clare's hospital for treatment. He has been in custody ever since.
During the standoff, Earle's girlfriend called police and told them Earle was suffering from mental-health issues, which had been especially exacerbated over the previous few days.
A police search of Earle's apartment later in the day turned up a hammer, shotgun shells and a plastic pill bottle containing BB pellets.
Deveau and Curran submitted a joint suggestion for a sentence of time served for Earle, who had earned 141 days credit in prison.
Deveau noted Earle's guilty pleas and pointed out he is expected to be sentenced to jail time in Supreme Court next week. He noted significant gaps between Earle's convictions.
"It's clear there are some significant mental-health issues here and they play a role (in his criminal activity). When he's doing well, we don't hear from him."
— Deveau
Curran said Earle has a history of serious suicide attempts and self-harm, and has been receiving treatment in Her Majesty's Penitentiary. He's interested in following his psychologist's suggestion and going to an in-patient PTSD treatment program at a mental-health facility in Ontario when he's released from custody, she said.
Curran also pointed out Earle has a five-year-old daughter with down syndrome, and his results on a parenting capability assessment were positive.
Judge Jacqueline Brazil accepted the sentencing submission, saying she was satisfied it was appropriate.
"It was likely a sentence I would have proposed," she said. "The overall incident was quite serious, but I have to balance that with Mr. Earle's circumstances."
Earle will remain in custody to await his sentencing on the other standoff, which took place at his mother's Barachois Street home two years ago. He had barricaded himself inside the home with a loaded sawed-off shotgun, which was discharged three times while police were in position outside. Earle had threatened to shoot police if they entered the home, saying, "I'm not going to jail, I'm going in the ground."
For that incident, Curran has suggested a jail term of one year, while prosecutor Erin Matthews has argued for a four-year sentence.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
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