A Souris man who was charged after a standoff with the police last week tried to enter guilty pleas Monday, but the judge hearing the case wouldn’t accept them at that time after the accused said he was “pill sick".
Donovan Scott MacCaull, 25, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court by video from jail where he has been in custody since his arrest.
MacCaull is facing multiple charges related to a standoff with the RCMP Friday after he allegedly barricaded himself inside a home in Souris.
The charges include possessing a long-barrelled Airsoft BB gun for a purpose dangerous to the public peace, uttering a threat, damaging property and breaching his probation.
MacCaull also faces two counts of theft and one count of breaching his probation from alleged incidents in February.
On Friday, the RCMP asked Souris residents to stay indoors due to an incident involving a potentially armed man they said had barricaded himself inside a building.
No one was injured during the incident.
During his court appearance Monday, MacCaull, who did not have a lawyer, said he wanted to enter pleas to all the charges.
“I plead guilty. I’m guilty,” he said.
Before taking a plea, Orr asked MacCaull if he wanted to speak with a lawyer given the seriousness of the charges.
MacCaull said he didn’t.
“I want to be sentenced right now, Miss Orr.”
Throughout the proceedings, MacCaull repeatedly told Orr he wanted to be dealt with right away, even as she tried to explain to him the process that needed to be followed before he could enter a plea.
“We can’t get to the end unless we start at the beginning,” Orr said.
'Pill sick'
Although MacCaull initially told the court he was ill, he later said he was “pill sick", which referred to coming down from drug use.
He also said he was capable of entering a plea.
“I’m a hundred per cent right now,” he said.
As he tried to argue that he should be allowed to enter a plea, MacCaull said he fired a BB gun at the police and threatened them.
“I deserve to be in jail,” he said.
Crown attorney Nathan Beck took part in the proceedings by phone because of public health measures in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic.
Beck told the court he only received the file about an hour before the proceedings started.
He also said he didn’t feel comfortable taking a plea from MacCaull given what he said about being pill sick.
Orr told MacCaull she wanted to make sure he isn’t pill sick when he enters a plea and said she wasn’t willing to take one yet.
She adjourned the matter until May 19.
