Judge orders Minassian interviews to be sealed

Psychiatrist says videos of van attack perpetrator may incite more violence

TORONTO — The judge overseeing the van attack trial has beg grudgingly granted a request to seal all recordings of interviews the t accused had with an Amer- can psych iatr ist w ho had warned the videos could incite more violence if made public.

While the audio and video of Alek Minassian’s interviews wwith Dr. Alexander Westphal wwill not be released publicly, Justice Anne Molloy has allowed journalists to view the recordings when they’re presented in court.

Court has set up a special room in downtown Toronto where members of the public can also watch the recordings.

Westphal had said he would not testify if the judge refused to seal the recordings of his interviews with Minassian, who has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.

Westphal also demanded court be held in secret when those videos were played, which the judge rejected. The psychiatrist, court heard, was amenable to that change.

The problem, defence lawyer Boris Bytensky said, is that Westphal is the only psychia- trist prepared to testify Minassian is not criminally responsible for his actions on April 23, 2018, when he drove a van down a busy Toronto sidewalk killing 10 people and injuring 16 others.

Without the psychiatrist, there’d be no defence, Bytensky noted, which would infringe on Minassian’s right to a fair trial.

But giving in to the doctor’s demands would infringe on the constitutionally held right of the public, and the media, to an open court, Molloy noted.

The judge was livid a witness forced her into that position, wwhich was made more compli- cated because she cannot compel someone outside the country to testify.

“If he was here, there would be no problem. I would not for a moment tolerate it,” the judge said.

“That doctor would be under arrest before he could blink.”

She said she chose “the least wrong thing to do.”

“Dr. Westphal has refused to participate knowing that tthere’s nothing I can do about it if he does not, and knowing that he is all there is in terms of a defence for Mr. Minassian,” Molloy said. “I’m where the buck stops in terms of Mr. Minassian having a fair trial.”

A group of media organizations including The Canadian Press fought the application, arguing courts are inherently open and proceedings should not be held in secret.

The defence argues Minassian should be found not criminally responsible for his actions that day due to autism spectrum disorder. His state of mind will be the sole issue at trial.

Bytensky told court his client wwas inspired by Elliot Rodger, aan American who went on a rampage in Isla Vista, Calif., in May 2014, killing six people and injuring 14 others before killing himself. Rodger’s “manifesto” and his video before the murders focused on his hatred of wwomen and has found an audi- ence on the internet where he is treated as the forefather of socalled “incels,” men who are involuntarily celibate.

Bytensky said every single expert will testify at trial Minassian was inspired to kill people, in part, for notoriety. Making the video of his interview public wwould give Minassian what he wants, w he said.