Not criminally responsible? Nicholas Layman hearing to be held next month
Evidence will be called in late October in the case of Nicholas Layman, the young man accused of stabbing an 11-year-old boy in the neck last September.
Layman, 20, was deemed fit to stand trial but his lawyer is seeking a not-criminally-responsible defence.
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Layman faces multiple charges, including attempted murder, after a boy was stabbed during a skills camp at a soccer field in the Topsail neighbourhood of Conception Bay South.
A report provided by a psychiatrist at the Waterford Hospital, where Layman is currently held, has been reviewed by the Crown.
"We're still working out the final details, but we have been working collaboratively the entire time," defence lawyer Mark Gruchy said of discussions with Crown attorney Phil LeFeuvre.
"The Crown has done their due diligence and I've done mine," he said, following Layman's court appearance Thursday in St. John's. "We're doing our best to make justice happen is how I would put it."
Gruchy said Layman has been improving since getting on new medication.
"He's very stable, he's very rational, he's like any other young man," Gruchy said.
"Mr. Layman is a very young man, this has been a very traumatic experience for everybody and I know he's going to be living with this forever."
After presenting the case on Oct. 29, Gruchy said the judge will make the decision on the not-criminally-responsible defence.