Stephen Tynes, who had death threat charges dropped, receives 6-month peace bond
Dalhousie student's trial turned into a peace bond hearing after Crown withdrew three charges
A judge has imposed a six-month peace bond on a suspended Dalhousie University medical student accused of threatening to kill people at the school.
A trial was supposed to start earlier this month for Stephen Gregory Tynes, but that turned into a peace bond hearing in Halifax provincial court after the Crown withdrew three of the charges.
They included two counts of uttering threats to cause bodily harm and one count of engaging in threatening conduct.
Crown prosecutor Eric Taylor said that in reviewing the case and witness accounts, it became clear the evidence to support criminal charges wasn't as strong as initially thought.
'Shaken to their knees'
Tynes's psychiatrist testified as part of the peace bond hearing that she went to police with her concerns because she felt the daughter of a university official was in imminent danger of being harmed.
"I believe that any parent, father or mother, would be shaken to their knees and would be fearful and reasonably fearful," Judge Dan MacRury said in granting the peace bond.
The Crown requested a year-long peace bond. The six-month bond says Tynes must keep the peace and be of good behaviour, forbids him from possessing weapons and orders him to stay at least 50 metres away from the university official and her daughter.
Taylor said the court order is on top of the recognizance Tynes has been living under while waiting for the charges to be dealt with.
That recognizance included a provision barring Tynes from going anywhere in peninsular Halifax.
"As it stands now, he still has that geographic ban, preventing him from being in the Halifax Regional Municipality unless certain conditions are met such as medical emergencies involving his family," Taylor said.
'What do you say to your psychiatrist?'
Tynes said nothing as he left court. His lawyer, Stan MacDonald, said the case raises a broader issue.
"What do you say to your psychiatrist?" MacDonald asked.
"And how is that going to be interpreted by the psychiatrist. So that's an issue that certainly directly impacts on him but is probably a bigger issue that the medical profession will have be concerned about as well."
On Tuesday, a Dalhousie spokesperson said Tynes is still suspended and remains "banned from all university campuses pending the outcome of internal university processes."
Tynes is also charged with unauthorized possession of a prohibited device in relation to an overcapacity cartridge magazine.
A trial on that count is scheduled for Aug. 19.
With files from Canadian Press