Fail to Appear (2017) Movie Script
OK, so your doctor recommended that you,
as long as you're getting exercise,
and eating well...
And you feel pretty good?
Pretty balanced?
Alright, that's great.
And actually...
The doctor appointment...
Oh, perfect.
- This is the appointment on Monday?
- Yeah.
And that's for the blood tests
that we talked about?
That's great.
OK. So I guess you have this written down,
you don't need me to write it down for you?
Do you want me to give you
a call the day of that appointment?
No, I have the notice now.
So you're happy with the doctor
that you have now?
- Yeah.
- OK.
But he says, "we can't help you for the...
... hear voices".
"You are diabetic so...
"what you're taking, you have to know,
because you get infected...
...so you can't take every medication".
No, I understand.
So, without the medication, is there
a return of your previous symptoms?
- Are you hearing the voices again?
- The voices? Yeah.
Because I can't sleep sometimes,
at midnight they talk, at morning time...
Everyday, they talk.
And you're having difficulty
sleeping because of that? - Yeah.
Did the doctor recommend
a medication you could take
to go to sleep at night?
Yeah, the doctor told me you need
some medication to sleep.
But sometimes, it's too much
blablabla, too much talk...
Sometimes, OK.
Sometimes it's OK?
- Yeah.
- Alright.
- Sorry about that.
- That's OK.
Have you had a chance to go over it yet?
So, I have to plan the release letter...
So, in that I'll outline that I can
provide support for him
once he's released.
I can say...
that we can have one-on-one meetings
as well as, he can participate in
the workshops and activities.
OK. Is there anything else
you would put in the letter?
Hum, I mean...
I could talk about...
We could talk about housing,
about maybe getting some
government support for him...
OK. That's good.
There are a few things that
I think you should definitely outline,
that I can show you if you'd like.
- First thing that I noticed was all
of his convictions were relatively minor.
and all of them are non-violent.
- So that's the kind of thing
that I would put in the letter?
- Yes exactly, yeah.
We haven't got a hold
of his parents yet, so
we are concerned about
where he'll be staying.
I know the number of
a local shelter I can give you
so we can maybe get a safe-bed for him.
Hum, also...
over here, he has no history
of violence whatsoever,
so he is a relatively non-violent person.
...it's a place just down the street,
It's called "Open-door family shelter".
...925-6100
I can do that right now.
Thank you.
Do you mind if I keep the referral?
Good morning, Open Door.
Hi, my name is Isolde Maxwell
I'm calling from Mosaic Support
Services on behalf of my client
Eric Edwards.
First and last name of the client?
Eric Edwards.
- Did you make that?
- Yeah.
- That's amazing.
- Is that you singing?
- Yes.
- I did the videography.
- Noway!
- This is Chinatown, downtown Toronto.
- Is it Chinatown? No, actually
it's right outside the Don Jail.
I had plans that day.
It took a lot of props to do this video.
I like the lace suit. Remember,
I had a jacket for it too.
The aqua suit, the one with
the clouds on it is pretty good.
The fur suit... You see
the fur suit in this video.
You see the fur suit?
That's my Japan suit and jacket.
You don't see the jean suit in this one.
You see the karate suit though.
- Have you been to her place?
- No.
- Have you thought about doing a drop-in,
just to see what her environment is like,
see if she is at risk at all?
- Yeah, at this point, I wasn't sure
she was going to come back to see me
so I'll start thinking about that now.
- She did!
That's always a good sign.
Obviously you have a connection there, even
if it's more on her side than your side,
that's the first thing that struck
out to me about how you described it.
My first thought is Running Rooms.
I used to be a member years ago,
they have a really good
community sense to them,
they have a tendency to get you
out of your comfort zone,
and push you to a place that is
comfortable but also challenging.
Also she'd get the physical exercise
that she might not be getting now,
and you might be surprised by the results
that she might be willing to give.
- That may be a little hard though,
if she's kind of struggling with
motivation just for daily tasks,
maybe start by going for a walk with
her when she comes to the drop-in.
Just walk around the block and work up.
It's a good long term goal, though.
- Yeah, you can see what she wants.
A walk is definitely a good start.
- Isi, I'm a bit concerned because
you said at the beginning
that she's depressed,
and you haven't yet had a
psych-consult, so...
is that an assessment that you are making,
or has she voiced being depressed.
- I mean, there was suicidal ideations,
so I brought up the possibility,
but she did seem open to it.
- She's identifying that for herself?
- Pardon?
- She's identifying that for herself?
- Hum, I identified it
but she was open to the idea.
she wasn't resistant to it.
Hello?
Hi, Ms. Edwards?
Yes.
My name is Isolde Maxwell,
I'm calling from Mosaic Support Services
this is regarding your son Eric
who's currently in custody.
I was wondering what support you might
be able to provide to Eric for his release?
What do you want me to do?
He has a court hearing tomorrow,
if you were able to attend,
I think it would be very helpful.
Yeah...
Did you call earlier?
No that might have been someone
else, I'm a support worker
I'm working towards Eric's release.
I was just wondering if you might be able
to attend the court hearing tomorrow?
It's always beneficial to have
family members present.
Eric is an adult now and...
we've gone through this before...
Yeah.
OK, it's...
it's really helpful to have
a family member present
so that the court sees
that Eric has support.
I'll see if I can.
I can't guarantee it though
I'm waiting for a delivery,
and I have to be home when it comes.
OK, well that would be much appreciated.
...OK.
I can also give you the phone
number of the Duty Counsel.
Sure.
I guess I wasn't sure where I wanted to go
with my literature degree and,
I didn't want to be a writer,
could not be a writer...
So...
I guess,
I tried to think about why I liked books.
and I guess,
I was always interested
in character, and always...
kind of connected with character and story
and so thought maybe...
I could bring some of that understanding
and empathy to real people.
Hopefully.
Sounds interesting.
Is that totally illogical?
Maybe.
Good luck with that.
You sound very optimistic.
That sounds kind of threatening!
No, I'm sure you'll do well in this field.
About how many clients do you have?
It varies.
Some months it's 10 and
other months it's 30.
30!
Not 30 clients that you talk to everyday?
Yeah.
There isn't enough time in
the day to talk to 30 people!
You just gotta make the time!
OK, so what are you
living-off of at the moment?
Unfortunately I'm living off my savings.
OK. And about how long
do you think that can last for?
Perhaps another 2 months.
OK, so have you started thinking about
going on a disability support program?
No, not if I don't have to.
I'd rather not.
I mean
we can hope that you'll
be feeling better really soon
but if your symptoms
are to continue for longer
and you can't go back to work,
I think it would be a good option
as a way to have money coming in.
And you don't want to be digging
into your savings too much.
I'll take that into consideration.
I have a meeting with my boss
in the next week or so,
I'm going to ask if he'll
extend my benefits.
OK.
- Will you let me know how that goes?
- Absolutely.
By a chance, have you heard
anything from "Pathways"?
Hum... Remind me?
The treatment centre...?
Um, no...
It's been a couple of weeks since
we made a call to them,
I am just wondering if you have
heard anything back from them.
No. What I will do is:
I'll call them again today,
and follow up on that.
And if you want, I can
give you a call later
and let you know what they asked me.
It's about your position on the wait list?
Yes.
Please, that would be terrific,
I'm anxious to get into the program.
I'm sorry about that.
No problem, I know you're busy.
- Anyone here ever had an
episode of road rage before?
- I live in Parkdale so...
- So yes!
- Yes! Sometimes it's not a big deal
you hear yelling, your hear that
someone is having a bad day...
It sometimes carries over
to other people,
so you just side-step it and move on!
Has anyone here ever
lost their cool before,
or wish they had handled
a situation better?
- Yes.
There was a situation...
I was doing my laundry, so
I needed some softener for my laundry
so I'm walking up to Freshco
to get some softener,
and as I am crossing the stop-light,
there was this man, and his
girlfriend, and his mother,
and I asked the guy politely:
"can you excuse me please?"
He continued to cut me off, and then
I eventually got past him, and he was like
"Go to hell!"
So I'm like, why you tell me "go to hell"?
So, I came back and...
it was pretty violent, I...
I... I just slammed him...
- So you got aggressive with him?
- Yeah.
- Would you have handled the
situation better in hindsight?
- Well the cops had to come because
his jaw was pretty messed up.
But...
I mean, you know what?
I think that was well-deserved.
In hindsight, I don't think...
there would have been a
better way to deal with that.
- Do you think he would
have said the same thing?
No, I don't think so.
- Excuse me sir?
Where do... Excuse me!
- What's your excuse?
- Your
backpack is on my lap.
- My backpack has a right to be
on my back. It's my backpack.
- On my lap!
Was his backpack...?
- Well, it's a packed train
so you can imagine,
whether it's on your lap or not
he's bumping into you.
- But we're sitting, right?
- Well he can be standing, he can
be sitting. It can be... reversed.
- Wow, this is a tough one!
- Basically it's making contact
with you and you do not like it.
- Hum...
Would you kindly remove your backpack?
- Where are you getting off?
When is your stop?
- Please sir.
- Please doesn't cut it at this point.
- It's a bit too serious
for a simple situation.
Can you please let me out?
Let me pass?
- Yeah and then I don't have to hit you
no more with my backpack!
- Alright!
- Good one!
- That's good.
When is the probation
officer coming back?
Hum... sorry, I don't know.
What... What's your job?
I'm a caseworker.
My dad wants you to keep an eye on me
while he goes out for a cigarette.
OK.
She's so sweet! Ah, she's cute!
That's a great one!
- Where is that?
- Doctor visit.
I have a 4 year old.
That's her hair braiding.
- That's nice.
- Let me show you some pictures...
- So sweet!
- It's kinda cute.
- His worker is...
Maurice Dermers.
Maurice can come on Monday,
so we are hoping that
Monday should be good.
- What's his living situation?
- Your Worship, he lives with his partner
his partner has recently been injured,
hence Mr. Danzin is anxious to be at home.
- Mr. Danzin,
we're gonna have to keep you here
until your worker is available.
Do you understand?
Who do we have in the box Mr. Counsel?
- This is Mr. Edwards Your Worship.
He is on page 2,
on lines 9 and 10.
- OK.
Hello Mr. Edwards.
How are you?
OK, can I have the file please?
Your Worship, Mr. Edwards is before the
court on two charges of Theft Under $5,000
and another for Failure to Appear in Court.
On July 7th, 2016 at approximately 3:15,
Mr. Edwards entered the
HiFi-300 Electronics,
a computer and cellular phone store
located at Kingsgate Mall, 1600 Dupont St.
After making a purchase of 5 USB keys,
the accused was seen idling in the store
for more than an hour.
Taking items out of their
packages to inspect them,
sometimes leaving empty packages
on the display shelves, or in the aisles.
Store employees,
Ms. Khouri and Mr. Mendoza
approached the accused and
asked him to leave the store.
The accused refused to comply.
Mr. Mendoza went on to find
Mr. Mathanes, the store manager
in order to deal with the matter.
Mr. Mathanes approached the accused
and asked him if he could
open his backpack in order to inspect it.
Mr. Edwards refused to cooperate,
and continued browsing the aisles.
At approximately 4:30pm
Mr. Mathanes called mall security,
Mr. Edwards was brought to
the mall detainment room
where he continued to
refuse to be searched.
Mr. Edwards finally
accepted to be searched
upon arrival of police officers
David Lu and Derek Cole.
The accused was found
hiding approximately
$255 worth of unpaid
electronic accessories
which he had removed from their packaging.
These included:
smartphone screen covers,
SIM cards and USB keys.
Mr. Edwards was found
to be on an arrest warrant
and was brought to police
custody at 61 Division.
- Do we have the report on the warrant?
- The previous charge
was also a Theft Under,
it is the theft of belts
and other clothing items
at Kingsgate Mall, also.
- OK.
Mr. Hartman, could you test the
fitness of the defendant please?
- Yes, Your Worship.
Mr. Edwards, do you know
what you're charged with?
- Yes.
- Can you tell the court
what you're charged with?
- Stealing and failure to appear in Court.
- That's correct. I just want to ask you,
if you know about everyone here in court.
If I'm your defense lawyer,
do you know what my job is?
- To defend me?
- OK and my colleague, the Crown Attorney?
Do you know what her job is?
- To protect the public?
- To defend the public. And the...
the Justice here, do you
know what her job is?
- She decides if I'm guilty or innocent.
- OK, now if the Justice decides that
you're guilty, what should happen?
- Then I would be charged.
- And what sort of things can happen
to somebody who is charged or who's guilty?
- They can go to jail.
Or they can get a fine.
- It does depend on the case...
And if the justice decides
that you're not guilty
what happens next?
- Then the charges will be dropped.
- OK, now where do you think that somebody
who's not guilty should go?
- They should go home.
- And in terms of the court case,
what happens if you're not guilty.
- The charges will be dropped.
- Mr. Hartman...
I take it you're content with
the evidence as presented?
- I am Your Worship, yes.
- Alright.
- I'm agreeable with my friend
Your Worship.
- So we should continue Mrs. Martel.
- So there are 2 places that the Crown
is asking that you not go.
The Kingsgate Mall, 1600 Dupont St.
So do not attend within
50 meters of Kingsgate Mall
and any HiFi Electronic store
across the Province of Ontario.
So you can go to any
other electronic store,
or a different mall.
Sorry... What should he do moving forward?
Well, he needs to follow
his bail conditions.
And what should he do to make
sure that it goes smoothly?
Well...
Show up for his court dates...
What else?
You know...
Maybe it'd be best to consult
a court support worker about this.
But...
well at some point a judge will
ask to have a progress
report from his doctor.
- Great, you're still here!
Eric, this is Isolde. She's the
case manager I told you about.
She wrote you a great letter.
So you have my card,
if you need me you can
call me and of course,
contact Isolde, she's here
for your support as well.
So, Isolde nice meeting you.
- Thanks a lot.
I'm glad everything worked out.
Yeah.
You have your paperwork and everything?
Yeah, I got it all.
So I'm gonna head out.
Do you want coffee or something to eat?
Sure.
Are there any appointments or anything
that you missed while you were away?
Just meditation
and my daily routine.
You do meditation?
Yeah.
At home?
No, in a centre.
You do it in groups?
Yeah.
There's like 30 people in the room,
and they all sit on cushions.
I sit at the back though,
I have to use a chair because
I have a bad back.
and I can't really cross my legs either.
I think I'd like to try it.
Has it been good for you?
I've only been a couple of times.
but I'm trying to go more.
So you're not working at the moment?
No, not anymore. I'm on disability now.
What work were you doing?
I was doing after-school program for kids.
What kind of programs?
I was teaching them music.
Just basic stuff, I just give them
xylophones and flutes
to mess around on.
It's not very structured.
Did they tell you in court that
I arranged a shelter bed for you?
Yeah.
But I don't need that, I can just go home.
You live with your mom, right?
Yeah.
And it's fine for you to go back there?
Yeah.
You can give her a call with
my cellphone if you want.
No that's alright.
The reason that I arranged the shelter bed
was because I had some difficulty
getting a hold of your mother,
so I wasn't sure if there was a problem...
But if there's no problem, that's great.
Actually the next time you see your
court worker, you should let her know
and she'll put that in your file,
because anything that shows that
you have support is really good.
You know, the reason I took the hard-drive
was because they wouldn't help me.
Even when I asked them,
they didn't assist me.
They have these hard drives
that don't have the specs on them,
and I wanted to know
what outputs it had on it.
so I was gonna ask the staff there.
and I thought they were
gonna come and help me.
and I waited for a really long time.
and no one came.
And then one of their workers
he came into the aisle I was in and
I thought he was gonna help me,
and he just walked right past me.
Anyways, so I figured,
if I open the package,
I can find out the specs
and also...
they would notice me.
So I opened the package.
And I know they saw me because
one of them was looking right at me.
So I thought if I just left...
I thought if I left that
they would notice, so...
I left. But I wasn't really
gonna take anything.
When you've gotten some rest,
we could schedule a meeting?
Just to talk about your plan and
what kind of support you might want...
Yeah.
You think you might have
some time next week?
We wouldn't have to meet at my office
we can meet at a coffee shop
or something like that.
I don't know, it depends how I feel.
I need to get a lot of rest and
get back to my routine...
Or I might start to not feel well.
Right.
You don't need to think about it right now.
It's mostly just for the court to see
that you're making some effort...
But we can talk about it some other time.
If you want to focus on getting
back into your routine,
I can rearrange my schedule so that
I can attend the court dates with you.
I don't know if I'll be
able to make those days.
Maybe it's best we don't make plans yet.
Do you think there's a chance you
won't be able to make the court dates?
I don't know.
It depends how I feel on that day.
If I'm really not feeling well,
I may need to stay home.
I mean, it's really
important that you attend
the court dates.
Yeah, maybe if...
I can't make it, maybe I can
just go another day.
I mean I can talk to the
Duty Counsel to see if...
there's a day that suit
your schedule better...
Yeah.
I'm getting off at the next stop.
Make sure you keep your bail with you
at all times when you leave the house.
OK.
Bye.
It's not my problem.
You want me to admit I was wrong,
when I didn't do anything wrong.
No.
I put them on the table!
I told you, I put them on the table!
I know that.
Yeah, it's fine.
I can help you when I'm done.
You don't really have to if you're busy.
No, I can help you.
OK
Yeah, the last time I did this
I did it for an end-table
And I think it took me 3 days.
Yeah.
When I was...
growing up, my father
tried to show me how to use a screwdriver,
it was not a good thing either.
He called it genetics,
none of us were able to.
It's ok, I'm not related to you.
Yeah, even my kids...
can't do this.
Is your side good?
My side is good.
I think you need two
wooden pegs on this side.
Hey.
Hey! How are you doing?
Good.
Did you walk dogs today?
No, I had to run some errands.
I thought you were gonna turn
this place into a recreation room?
No, I think we're just
going to turn it into a den.
Yeah.
We picked up some more stuff
from storage while you were away.
Yeah?
Did you get the rest of my records?
the ones that were in the computer room?
Oh, yeah it's in the garage
with your other stuff.
OK.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
as long as you're getting exercise,
and eating well...
And you feel pretty good?
Pretty balanced?
Alright, that's great.
And actually...
The doctor appointment...
Oh, perfect.
- This is the appointment on Monday?
- Yeah.
And that's for the blood tests
that we talked about?
That's great.
OK. So I guess you have this written down,
you don't need me to write it down for you?
Do you want me to give you
a call the day of that appointment?
No, I have the notice now.
So you're happy with the doctor
that you have now?
- Yeah.
- OK.
But he says, "we can't help you for the...
... hear voices".
"You are diabetic so...
"what you're taking, you have to know,
because you get infected...
...so you can't take every medication".
No, I understand.
So, without the medication, is there
a return of your previous symptoms?
- Are you hearing the voices again?
- The voices? Yeah.
Because I can't sleep sometimes,
at midnight they talk, at morning time...
Everyday, they talk.
And you're having difficulty
sleeping because of that? - Yeah.
Did the doctor recommend
a medication you could take
to go to sleep at night?
Yeah, the doctor told me you need
some medication to sleep.
But sometimes, it's too much
blablabla, too much talk...
Sometimes, OK.
Sometimes it's OK?
- Yeah.
- Alright.
- Sorry about that.
- That's OK.
Have you had a chance to go over it yet?
So, I have to plan the release letter...
So, in that I'll outline that I can
provide support for him
once he's released.
I can say...
that we can have one-on-one meetings
as well as, he can participate in
the workshops and activities.
OK. Is there anything else
you would put in the letter?
Hum, I mean...
I could talk about...
We could talk about housing,
about maybe getting some
government support for him...
OK. That's good.
There are a few things that
I think you should definitely outline,
that I can show you if you'd like.
- First thing that I noticed was all
of his convictions were relatively minor.
and all of them are non-violent.
- So that's the kind of thing
that I would put in the letter?
- Yes exactly, yeah.
We haven't got a hold
of his parents yet, so
we are concerned about
where he'll be staying.
I know the number of
a local shelter I can give you
so we can maybe get a safe-bed for him.
Hum, also...
over here, he has no history
of violence whatsoever,
so he is a relatively non-violent person.
...it's a place just down the street,
It's called "Open-door family shelter".
...925-6100
I can do that right now.
Thank you.
Do you mind if I keep the referral?
Good morning, Open Door.
Hi, my name is Isolde Maxwell
I'm calling from Mosaic Support
Services on behalf of my client
Eric Edwards.
First and last name of the client?
Eric Edwards.
- Did you make that?
- Yeah.
- That's amazing.
- Is that you singing?
- Yes.
- I did the videography.
- Noway!
- This is Chinatown, downtown Toronto.
- Is it Chinatown? No, actually
it's right outside the Don Jail.
I had plans that day.
It took a lot of props to do this video.
I like the lace suit. Remember,
I had a jacket for it too.
The aqua suit, the one with
the clouds on it is pretty good.
The fur suit... You see
the fur suit in this video.
You see the fur suit?
That's my Japan suit and jacket.
You don't see the jean suit in this one.
You see the karate suit though.
- Have you been to her place?
- No.
- Have you thought about doing a drop-in,
just to see what her environment is like,
see if she is at risk at all?
- Yeah, at this point, I wasn't sure
she was going to come back to see me
so I'll start thinking about that now.
- She did!
That's always a good sign.
Obviously you have a connection there, even
if it's more on her side than your side,
that's the first thing that struck
out to me about how you described it.
My first thought is Running Rooms.
I used to be a member years ago,
they have a really good
community sense to them,
they have a tendency to get you
out of your comfort zone,
and push you to a place that is
comfortable but also challenging.
Also she'd get the physical exercise
that she might not be getting now,
and you might be surprised by the results
that she might be willing to give.
- That may be a little hard though,
if she's kind of struggling with
motivation just for daily tasks,
maybe start by going for a walk with
her when she comes to the drop-in.
Just walk around the block and work up.
It's a good long term goal, though.
- Yeah, you can see what she wants.
A walk is definitely a good start.
- Isi, I'm a bit concerned because
you said at the beginning
that she's depressed,
and you haven't yet had a
psych-consult, so...
is that an assessment that you are making,
or has she voiced being depressed.
- I mean, there was suicidal ideations,
so I brought up the possibility,
but she did seem open to it.
- She's identifying that for herself?
- Pardon?
- She's identifying that for herself?
- Hum, I identified it
but she was open to the idea.
she wasn't resistant to it.
Hello?
Hi, Ms. Edwards?
Yes.
My name is Isolde Maxwell,
I'm calling from Mosaic Support Services
this is regarding your son Eric
who's currently in custody.
I was wondering what support you might
be able to provide to Eric for his release?
What do you want me to do?
He has a court hearing tomorrow,
if you were able to attend,
I think it would be very helpful.
Yeah...
Did you call earlier?
No that might have been someone
else, I'm a support worker
I'm working towards Eric's release.
I was just wondering if you might be able
to attend the court hearing tomorrow?
It's always beneficial to have
family members present.
Eric is an adult now and...
we've gone through this before...
Yeah.
OK, it's...
it's really helpful to have
a family member present
so that the court sees
that Eric has support.
I'll see if I can.
I can't guarantee it though
I'm waiting for a delivery,
and I have to be home when it comes.
OK, well that would be much appreciated.
...OK.
I can also give you the phone
number of the Duty Counsel.
Sure.
I guess I wasn't sure where I wanted to go
with my literature degree and,
I didn't want to be a writer,
could not be a writer...
So...
I guess,
I tried to think about why I liked books.
and I guess,
I was always interested
in character, and always...
kind of connected with character and story
and so thought maybe...
I could bring some of that understanding
and empathy to real people.
Hopefully.
Sounds interesting.
Is that totally illogical?
Maybe.
Good luck with that.
You sound very optimistic.
That sounds kind of threatening!
No, I'm sure you'll do well in this field.
About how many clients do you have?
It varies.
Some months it's 10 and
other months it's 30.
30!
Not 30 clients that you talk to everyday?
Yeah.
There isn't enough time in
the day to talk to 30 people!
You just gotta make the time!
OK, so what are you
living-off of at the moment?
Unfortunately I'm living off my savings.
OK. And about how long
do you think that can last for?
Perhaps another 2 months.
OK, so have you started thinking about
going on a disability support program?
No, not if I don't have to.
I'd rather not.
I mean
we can hope that you'll
be feeling better really soon
but if your symptoms
are to continue for longer
and you can't go back to work,
I think it would be a good option
as a way to have money coming in.
And you don't want to be digging
into your savings too much.
I'll take that into consideration.
I have a meeting with my boss
in the next week or so,
I'm going to ask if he'll
extend my benefits.
OK.
- Will you let me know how that goes?
- Absolutely.
By a chance, have you heard
anything from "Pathways"?
Hum... Remind me?
The treatment centre...?
Um, no...
It's been a couple of weeks since
we made a call to them,
I am just wondering if you have
heard anything back from them.
No. What I will do is:
I'll call them again today,
and follow up on that.
And if you want, I can
give you a call later
and let you know what they asked me.
It's about your position on the wait list?
Yes.
Please, that would be terrific,
I'm anxious to get into the program.
I'm sorry about that.
No problem, I know you're busy.
- Anyone here ever had an
episode of road rage before?
- I live in Parkdale so...
- So yes!
- Yes! Sometimes it's not a big deal
you hear yelling, your hear that
someone is having a bad day...
It sometimes carries over
to other people,
so you just side-step it and move on!
Has anyone here ever
lost their cool before,
or wish they had handled
a situation better?
- Yes.
There was a situation...
I was doing my laundry, so
I needed some softener for my laundry
so I'm walking up to Freshco
to get some softener,
and as I am crossing the stop-light,
there was this man, and his
girlfriend, and his mother,
and I asked the guy politely:
"can you excuse me please?"
He continued to cut me off, and then
I eventually got past him, and he was like
"Go to hell!"
So I'm like, why you tell me "go to hell"?
So, I came back and...
it was pretty violent, I...
I... I just slammed him...
- So you got aggressive with him?
- Yeah.
- Would you have handled the
situation better in hindsight?
- Well the cops had to come because
his jaw was pretty messed up.
But...
I mean, you know what?
I think that was well-deserved.
In hindsight, I don't think...
there would have been a
better way to deal with that.
- Do you think he would
have said the same thing?
No, I don't think so.
- Excuse me sir?
Where do... Excuse me!
- What's your excuse?
- Your
backpack is on my lap.
- My backpack has a right to be
on my back. It's my backpack.
- On my lap!
Was his backpack...?
- Well, it's a packed train
so you can imagine,
whether it's on your lap or not
he's bumping into you.
- But we're sitting, right?
- Well he can be standing, he can
be sitting. It can be... reversed.
- Wow, this is a tough one!
- Basically it's making contact
with you and you do not like it.
- Hum...
Would you kindly remove your backpack?
- Where are you getting off?
When is your stop?
- Please sir.
- Please doesn't cut it at this point.
- It's a bit too serious
for a simple situation.
Can you please let me out?
Let me pass?
- Yeah and then I don't have to hit you
no more with my backpack!
- Alright!
- Good one!
- That's good.
When is the probation
officer coming back?
Hum... sorry, I don't know.
What... What's your job?
I'm a caseworker.
My dad wants you to keep an eye on me
while he goes out for a cigarette.
OK.
She's so sweet! Ah, she's cute!
That's a great one!
- Where is that?
- Doctor visit.
I have a 4 year old.
That's her hair braiding.
- That's nice.
- Let me show you some pictures...
- So sweet!
- It's kinda cute.
- His worker is...
Maurice Dermers.
Maurice can come on Monday,
so we are hoping that
Monday should be good.
- What's his living situation?
- Your Worship, he lives with his partner
his partner has recently been injured,
hence Mr. Danzin is anxious to be at home.
- Mr. Danzin,
we're gonna have to keep you here
until your worker is available.
Do you understand?
Who do we have in the box Mr. Counsel?
- This is Mr. Edwards Your Worship.
He is on page 2,
on lines 9 and 10.
- OK.
Hello Mr. Edwards.
How are you?
OK, can I have the file please?
Your Worship, Mr. Edwards is before the
court on two charges of Theft Under $5,000
and another for Failure to Appear in Court.
On July 7th, 2016 at approximately 3:15,
Mr. Edwards entered the
HiFi-300 Electronics,
a computer and cellular phone store
located at Kingsgate Mall, 1600 Dupont St.
After making a purchase of 5 USB keys,
the accused was seen idling in the store
for more than an hour.
Taking items out of their
packages to inspect them,
sometimes leaving empty packages
on the display shelves, or in the aisles.
Store employees,
Ms. Khouri and Mr. Mendoza
approached the accused and
asked him to leave the store.
The accused refused to comply.
Mr. Mendoza went on to find
Mr. Mathanes, the store manager
in order to deal with the matter.
Mr. Mathanes approached the accused
and asked him if he could
open his backpack in order to inspect it.
Mr. Edwards refused to cooperate,
and continued browsing the aisles.
At approximately 4:30pm
Mr. Mathanes called mall security,
Mr. Edwards was brought to
the mall detainment room
where he continued to
refuse to be searched.
Mr. Edwards finally
accepted to be searched
upon arrival of police officers
David Lu and Derek Cole.
The accused was found
hiding approximately
$255 worth of unpaid
electronic accessories
which he had removed from their packaging.
These included:
smartphone screen covers,
SIM cards and USB keys.
Mr. Edwards was found
to be on an arrest warrant
and was brought to police
custody at 61 Division.
- Do we have the report on the warrant?
- The previous charge
was also a Theft Under,
it is the theft of belts
and other clothing items
at Kingsgate Mall, also.
- OK.
Mr. Hartman, could you test the
fitness of the defendant please?
- Yes, Your Worship.
Mr. Edwards, do you know
what you're charged with?
- Yes.
- Can you tell the court
what you're charged with?
- Stealing and failure to appear in Court.
- That's correct. I just want to ask you,
if you know about everyone here in court.
If I'm your defense lawyer,
do you know what my job is?
- To defend me?
- OK and my colleague, the Crown Attorney?
Do you know what her job is?
- To protect the public?
- To defend the public. And the...
the Justice here, do you
know what her job is?
- She decides if I'm guilty or innocent.
- OK, now if the Justice decides that
you're guilty, what should happen?
- Then I would be charged.
- And what sort of things can happen
to somebody who is charged or who's guilty?
- They can go to jail.
Or they can get a fine.
- It does depend on the case...
And if the justice decides
that you're not guilty
what happens next?
- Then the charges will be dropped.
- OK, now where do you think that somebody
who's not guilty should go?
- They should go home.
- And in terms of the court case,
what happens if you're not guilty.
- The charges will be dropped.
- Mr. Hartman...
I take it you're content with
the evidence as presented?
- I am Your Worship, yes.
- Alright.
- I'm agreeable with my friend
Your Worship.
- So we should continue Mrs. Martel.
- So there are 2 places that the Crown
is asking that you not go.
The Kingsgate Mall, 1600 Dupont St.
So do not attend within
50 meters of Kingsgate Mall
and any HiFi Electronic store
across the Province of Ontario.
So you can go to any
other electronic store,
or a different mall.
Sorry... What should he do moving forward?
Well, he needs to follow
his bail conditions.
And what should he do to make
sure that it goes smoothly?
Well...
Show up for his court dates...
What else?
You know...
Maybe it'd be best to consult
a court support worker about this.
But...
well at some point a judge will
ask to have a progress
report from his doctor.
- Great, you're still here!
Eric, this is Isolde. She's the
case manager I told you about.
She wrote you a great letter.
So you have my card,
if you need me you can
call me and of course,
contact Isolde, she's here
for your support as well.
So, Isolde nice meeting you.
- Thanks a lot.
I'm glad everything worked out.
Yeah.
You have your paperwork and everything?
Yeah, I got it all.
So I'm gonna head out.
Do you want coffee or something to eat?
Sure.
Are there any appointments or anything
that you missed while you were away?
Just meditation
and my daily routine.
You do meditation?
Yeah.
At home?
No, in a centre.
You do it in groups?
Yeah.
There's like 30 people in the room,
and they all sit on cushions.
I sit at the back though,
I have to use a chair because
I have a bad back.
and I can't really cross my legs either.
I think I'd like to try it.
Has it been good for you?
I've only been a couple of times.
but I'm trying to go more.
So you're not working at the moment?
No, not anymore. I'm on disability now.
What work were you doing?
I was doing after-school program for kids.
What kind of programs?
I was teaching them music.
Just basic stuff, I just give them
xylophones and flutes
to mess around on.
It's not very structured.
Did they tell you in court that
I arranged a shelter bed for you?
Yeah.
But I don't need that, I can just go home.
You live with your mom, right?
Yeah.
And it's fine for you to go back there?
Yeah.
You can give her a call with
my cellphone if you want.
No that's alright.
The reason that I arranged the shelter bed
was because I had some difficulty
getting a hold of your mother,
so I wasn't sure if there was a problem...
But if there's no problem, that's great.
Actually the next time you see your
court worker, you should let her know
and she'll put that in your file,
because anything that shows that
you have support is really good.
You know, the reason I took the hard-drive
was because they wouldn't help me.
Even when I asked them,
they didn't assist me.
They have these hard drives
that don't have the specs on them,
and I wanted to know
what outputs it had on it.
so I was gonna ask the staff there.
and I thought they were
gonna come and help me.
and I waited for a really long time.
and no one came.
And then one of their workers
he came into the aisle I was in and
I thought he was gonna help me,
and he just walked right past me.
Anyways, so I figured,
if I open the package,
I can find out the specs
and also...
they would notice me.
So I opened the package.
And I know they saw me because
one of them was looking right at me.
So I thought if I just left...
I thought if I left that
they would notice, so...
I left. But I wasn't really
gonna take anything.
When you've gotten some rest,
we could schedule a meeting?
Just to talk about your plan and
what kind of support you might want...
Yeah.
You think you might have
some time next week?
We wouldn't have to meet at my office
we can meet at a coffee shop
or something like that.
I don't know, it depends how I feel.
I need to get a lot of rest and
get back to my routine...
Or I might start to not feel well.
Right.
You don't need to think about it right now.
It's mostly just for the court to see
that you're making some effort...
But we can talk about it some other time.
If you want to focus on getting
back into your routine,
I can rearrange my schedule so that
I can attend the court dates with you.
I don't know if I'll be
able to make those days.
Maybe it's best we don't make plans yet.
Do you think there's a chance you
won't be able to make the court dates?
I don't know.
It depends how I feel on that day.
If I'm really not feeling well,
I may need to stay home.
I mean, it's really
important that you attend
the court dates.
Yeah, maybe if...
I can't make it, maybe I can
just go another day.
I mean I can talk to the
Duty Counsel to see if...
there's a day that suit
your schedule better...
Yeah.
I'm getting off at the next stop.
Make sure you keep your bail with you
at all times when you leave the house.
OK.
Bye.
It's not my problem.
You want me to admit I was wrong,
when I didn't do anything wrong.
No.
I put them on the table!
I told you, I put them on the table!
I know that.
Yeah, it's fine.
I can help you when I'm done.
You don't really have to if you're busy.
No, I can help you.
OK
Yeah, the last time I did this
I did it for an end-table
And I think it took me 3 days.
Yeah.
When I was...
growing up, my father
tried to show me how to use a screwdriver,
it was not a good thing either.
He called it genetics,
none of us were able to.
It's ok, I'm not related to you.
Yeah, even my kids...
can't do this.
Is your side good?
My side is good.
I think you need two
wooden pegs on this side.
Hey.
Hey! How are you doing?
Good.
Did you walk dogs today?
No, I had to run some errands.
I thought you were gonna turn
this place into a recreation room?
No, I think we're just
going to turn it into a den.
Yeah.
We picked up some more stuff
from storage while you were away.
Yeah?
Did you get the rest of my records?
the ones that were in the computer room?
Oh, yeah it's in the garage
with your other stuff.
OK.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.