Paula Simons: Psychiatric assessment backlog puts health care, justice systems at risk

Jeremy Newborn committed one of the most public crimes in Edmonton history. On Dec. 28, 2012, he beat John Hollar on an LRT car in front of horrified witnesses. Hollar died of his injuries. Newborn was found guilty of second-degree murder in May 2016.
But Newborn has not yet been sentenced. His lawyer has launched a Charter challenge of the mandatory minimum life sentence in this case, arguing that Newborn, whose IQ is well below average, lacked the intellectual capacity to form the intent to ki