Former Acadia prof sentenced to six months in jail for threatening Justice Department staff
· Toronto Sun
Saying that Rick Mehta has no respect for the courts, a judge sentenced the former Acadia University professor to six months in jail for threatening provincial Justice Department employees.
“To be as direct as possible, I have zero faith that Mr. Mehta would comply with any (non-custodial sentence) order that this court were to impose,” Judge Alonzo Wright said Tuesday in Kentville provincial court. “He has made it quite clear on a number of occasions that he will not comply with any order that this court imposes.”
Visit orlando-books.blog for more information.
The jail sentence was double what was recommended by Crown attorney Fayzan Khan.
Mehta was convicted in December of two counts of uttering threats after a two-day trial in November and December that saw him call the judge “ a spaced-out idiot” and try to recite and act out scenes from movies, among other disruptive behaviour.
Wright spent about 10 minutes of his sentencing decision going over some of the various insults, disruptions, proclamations and other moments of chaos caused by Mehta during his trial, including:
- Calling the officers of the court “Satan’s minions”
- Saying that “there is no such thing as an honest court officer”
- Calling himself “God’s representative on Earth”
- Saying the venue was “the devil’s court”
- Claiming he had power of attorney over the judge
- Calling the judge dishonest and rude, and saying he was obstructing justice and violating the Criminal Code
- Saying the judge didn’t have the knowledge to sentence him
“These are just some of the actions of Mr. Mehta in these court proceedings,” Wright said.
Related
“It is the court’s view that the actions of Mr. Mehta, his refusal to attend for the preparation of a presentence report ordered by this court, and his past criminal record as set out by the Crown (show) Mr. Mehta has no respect for the law, and as such he would likely not comply with any order this court would impose.”
He told Mehta that considering the charges, his circumstances and record and the need for denunciation and deterrence, the jail term was appropriate.
After his release, Mehta will be on probation with conditions, including staying away from the Kentville courthouse and two Justice Department employees there and one in Halifax. He was also ordered to take any assessment and counselling as directed by his probation officer, including for substance abuse, mental health, anger management and violence intervention and prevention.
Evidence at trial showed that Mehta sent one email and a separate, unrelated letter to department employees, and in both he set a deadline for a response. He wrote that if he did not get a response in time, he would go to the Kentville court offices with dialogue in his mind from the movie They Live. The line he quoted from the lead character was “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.” It is uttered when the character is in an office setting, right before he begins to shoot aliens.
Among other outbursts and comments during the trial, Mehta on the first day:
- Said to a Crown witness: “How is it possible that you are unaware of the fact that you just violated not only the supremacy of God principle that both the charter and bill of rights cite as a prerequisite to rule of law but also the clean hands doctrine that states . . . that by definition makes me your boss and you engaged in mischief by breaking the commandment that says ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’”
- Started to recite a scene from the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, saying the Crown and a police witness could play the parts.
- Asked a police officer: “Do you think the Crown’s predicament could have been avoided if all court officers had been exposed to Kenny Rogers’ song The Gambler in their training?”
- Referred to the case as “a sequel to previous proceedings.”
- Told the judge, “I’m the boss because I have a financial contract with you via the Income Tax Act. I expect you to honour your financial contract, buddy boy.”
- In cross-examining a police forensic officer on his qualifications, said: “I saw no evidence in your CV that you were exposed to books, television shows or movies that give you the background information that you need to solve crimes.”
On the second day of the trial, Mehta was almost tossed from court when he loudly objected to comments from the judge.
The Crown had suggested 45-day consecutive jail sentences for each offence, saying that the intention of Mehta’s letters was to instill fear.
Mehta, who has nine prior convictions for breaching court orders stemming from a threats case involving Acadia University employees, didn’t make any oral submissions, instead handing in a written document.
“Everything I have to say is in my written documentation,” he said. “The only thing I have to say is the Crown and the plaintiffs in R. vs Mehta, the sequel, have engaged in mischief and perjury.”
He also said, “I don’t know how an insane court can impose a contract on a sane individual.”
While he had been ordered to have a presentence report prepared, Mehta did not attend. Wright called that “a deliberate act of defiance on this court.”