It’s unanimous: If you kill someone while you are extremely intoxicated, you’re not criminally responsible for your actions and can’t be convicted of an offence in court.
That is not something Canadians would likely unanimously agree to, but it was the conclusion of a 9-0 Supreme Court of Canada decision released last week. At issue were a trio of trials involving defendants who were accused of committing offences, including manslaughter, while drunk and high to the point of being in a state of “automatism.”
