Zoe undergoes a psychiatric assessment
Evaluation will help determine whether notorious sex offender fit to stand trial on latest charges
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, May 1, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A convicted sex offender, facing new charges of break and enter and sexual assault, will be sent to an Edmonton hospital for a 30-day psychiatric assessment. The assessment for Bobby Zoe, 34, was granted in territorial court by Judge Bernadette Schmaltz on Friday.
Zoe himself asked for the assessment, said his lawyer Paul Falvo in court.
"The psychiatric assessment can help to determine two things," Falvo said. "One is whether the accused was or wasn't criminally responsible for his alleged offence and the second is whether he is mentally fit to stand trial."
Falvo said it is the judge that ultimately makes that decision but the report from the hospital will likely be taken into account.
Zoe was charged on Feb. 17 after the occupants of a downtown apartment told police they awoke early in the morning to find someone standing in their bedroom. Police say one of them was sexually assaulted and stolen items were also reported to police.
RCMP later charged Zoe with another break and enter and sexual assault that had been reported Feb 1. However, those charges were stayed last month.
Zoe was sentenced to 39 months in prison in April 2012 for sexually assaulting and robbing a woman as she walked down 53 Street on Jan. 11, 2011.
It is not entirely clear whether Zoe will be taken to Edmonton on a commercial flight in shackles and handcuffs with security officers. Neither police nor the justice department would clarify exactly how Zoe would get to Edmonton.
Yellowknifer asked Sue Glowach, senior communications officer for the Department of Justice, to outline the protocol and costs for such a prisoner transfer.
In cases where a person is in custody and they need to attend a court-ordered psychiatric assessment, there is a risk assessment done, she responded in an e-mail. People are transferred from one security facility to another secure facility where the assessment can be performed. Transfers are escorted by either RCMP or corrections officers. The specific transportation method varies on the individual case and takes the risk assessment into consideration. As a result, costs (of prisoner transfers) can vary, Glowach stated.
RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko stated in an e-mail that the Mounties do prisoner escorts, including transportation to other provinces and territories when required. RCMP won't be releasing what their policy and procedures are specifically, she stated.
