Rhora v. Ontario is Roaringly Funny

Let me tell you about Paul Rhora and his saga with the law.

Rhora lived in a rooming house in a rough neighbourhood in Hamilton.  He was growing 20 marijuana plants in his room.  He started getting scared that someone was going to come steal his plants and beat or kill him in the process.

Rhora’s way of dealing with that fear was to call 911 and ask the police to come and arrest him for growing marijuana.  Not surprisingly, the police obliged and took him into custody.  I’m sure the police were amused by the call!  (“Hey, come arrest me:  I’m growing pot at my house.  My address is…”)

He was taken to jail.  His family told the jail that he was sick and should be in a hospital, not a jail.  The jail put him in a psychiatric unit in a cell with two other inmates.  During the night, Rhora killed one of them.

Rhora was charged with first degree murder and after a trial he was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder.  He was confined to a mental hospital for eight years and then released.

Here’s where it gets funny.  Rhora sued the police and the province for his ordeal.  How, you ask?

He claimed that the police and jail should have recognised that he was unstable and that, by failing to keep him in isolation, they were to blame for his murder of the inmate.  It was, therefore, their fault that he went through a criminal trial and spent eight years in confinement.  He sued for damages for having been in jail and the eight lost years at the mental hospital.

Gimme a break.

Thankfully, the trial judge, after three and a half weeks of trial, dismissed the case.  The judge’s reasons are detailed and go through the law of negligence and the reasonable expectations of the jail staff in dealing with Rhora.  The judge found that there was no reason for the authorities to suspect that Rhora was going to be violent with anyone, let alone kill anyone.  While I am sure the judge was thinking “gimme a break”, he made sure that he did not say that and gave a thorough judgment that would survive an appeal.

What a waste of time and money, I say.  A guy like Rhora has no money to pay a costs award to compensate police and Crown for their legal bills.  The defence of that trial cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

I am less sympathetic to the lawyers for Rhora.  They, too, are likely unpaid.  However, they went into this with their eyes open and likely knew (or should have known) that their case was a long shot. 

Rhora’s legal saga started in 1991, when he was arrested and ended in 2004 when his civil case was dismissed.  What a waste!