The accused listened to proceedings with his eyes closed and his mouth open.
It appeared that 43-year-old Richard Edwin, whose trial began this week, was heavily medicated with antipsychotic drugs.
Certainly projecting as narcotized — someone in need of mental stabilizing — would be fitting when the core substance of the defence is that Edwin should be found not criminally responsible (NCR) in the shooting deaths of two men he didn’t even know within a span of two days in downtown Toronto in 2022.
The chances of being shot by some drugged up rando remains pretty remote in Canada.
But it is impossible for the police to bend space and time to protect you when you’re being victimized.
At best you’ll likely contribute a positive stat to the TPS’ excellent homicide closure rate.
In this instance the shooter was in possession of legally obtained weapons despite a history of mental illness.
Who do gun laws protect? Not you and not me.
They make life easier for criminals who appreciate the unlikely possibility of return fire.
In the effort to maintain the state’s monopoly on violence you’re just unarmed collateral damage.
