No evidence trucker suffering from mental illness at time of fatal crash: Crown

There is no proof a truck driver diagnosed with schizophrenia was suffering from a psychotic episode when he slammed into a pick-up truck, killing 21-year-old Derek Bossuyt, a judge was told Monday. 

Randolf Enns, 37, is charged with dangerous driving and resisting arrest. Enns admits causing the fatal July 2013 collision but is arguing he should be found not criminally responsible for Bossuyt's death. 

While the collision may have triggered a psychotic episode, there is no evidence to show Enns was ill in the hours or days prior, argued Crown attorney Manoja Moorthy.

Enns' semi-truck sped through two red lights and crossed the median before colliding with Bossuyt's pick-up truck near Headingley, Man.

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Moorthy said Enns was able to successfully manoeuvre an off-ramp prior to the collision, something a psychiatrist testified Enns would not have been able to do had he been suffering from schizophrenia symptoms.

"There really is no evidence before the court to suggest for sure there was a mental disorder that Mr. Enns was suffering from at the time the accident occurred," Moorthy told Judge Catherine Carlson.

After the collision, witnesses described Enns as "yelling and running all over the place," court heard. When police arrived on scene minutes later, Enns told an officer to go away and said "I don't want to talk to you ... You can worship me."

Enns continued to ramble in a foreign language and wander around the scene before police arrested him under the Mental Health Act, court heard.

Enns was admitted to hospital overnight and discharged the next day, at which time he was taken into police custody.

A doctor who completed a psychiatric assessment of Enns previously told court he had been first diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder in 2008. Enns was admitted to hospital again in 2009 and 2012, showing symptoms of schizophrenia. 

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Moorthy said Enns, knowing he suffered from a mental illness, misrepresented his health when he filled out an application to be a long-haul truck driver in July 2013.

"There is no evidence before the court that at the time of this application he was suffering from psychosis symptoms," Moorthy said. "At that very moment he applied for the job, he started posing a risk to the public."

At that very moment he applied for the job, he started posing a risk to the public.- Crown attorney Manoja Moorthy

Judge Catherine Carlson said she needed more time to consider the evidence and adjourned her decision to a later date.

In 2015, the CBC tracked Enns down in Paraguay, where he holds dual citizenship, after he failed to show up in court in October 2014. 

Enns remains in custody.