Man cleared of assault after judge rules he was suffering epileptic seizure
Client: Timothy Shaw-Zak
Charge: Assault
Defence: Epilepsy diagnosis was unrecognized
Sentence: Charges cleared
A Calgary judge has cleared a man charged with assaulting a nine-year-old girl, ruling that he was suffering an epileptic seizure at the time.
In his decision on Wednesday, provincial court Judge John Bascom was highly critical of the court system, saying Timothy Shaw-Zak was a victim of “overcharging,” which led to him spending 14 months behind bars.
“I can only conclude this was a case where police failed to consult Crown counsel before filing charges,” Bascom said, in finding Shaw-Zak not guilty of assault causing bodily harm.
Shaw-Zak, 36, was accused of grabbing the girl as she left dance class with her mother on 12th Avenue S.E. on Sept. 7, 2017. The girl’s mother managed to wrestle her daughter free from Shaw-Zak’s grip before he walked away.
But the judge determined Shaw-Zak’s actions “were not voluntary as a result of a seizure that occurred at the time or immediately prior to the event.”
Bascom said Shaw-Zak’s condition was misdiagnosed by a forensic psychiatrist and it was only after criminal lawyer Alain Hepner took on the file that the issue of epilepsy was recognized.
“A number of prior counsel failed to identify the issue in this case,” Bascom said.
Bascom was not critical of Crown prosecutor Doug Taylor, who took on the file late in the process and conceded more serious charges of kidnapping and unlawful confinement had not been established.
“This obvious overcharging was not Mr. Taylor’s doing,” said Bascom.
He said Shaw-Zak’s conduct was similar to that caught on surveillance video following his arrest in which the accused acted bizarrely during his police interview.
Source: Calgary Herald