Nunavut man makes death threats in court, faces more charges

A Nunavut man who faces a charge of making death threats to a JP at a court appearance this past November has still not had a show cause hearing and remains in custody — because his lawyer has been unable to take instructions from him. (FILE PHOTO)

An Iqaluit man appeared before a Justice of the Peace at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit for a bail hearing in November 2015 and, according to court transcripts, appeared confused before making death threats to the JP in open court.

RCMP officers arrested John John Pauloosie, 29, on Nov. 17, 2015.

Pauloosie faced at least four charges related to two incidents at the time of his Nov. 18, 2015 bail hearing, which police laid in September and November 2015: one count of sexual assault, one count of attempted murder, one count of breaking and entering, and one count of theft.

According to the court transcript of that bail hearing, as Justice Nicole Sikma attempted to explain to him why he was in court, Pauloosie seemed troubled and confused about what was going on.

“I don’t know what to do,” Pauloosie repeated a few times.

“What’s going on to me?” he asked Sikma.

Sikma adjourned court to allow Pauloosie to speak to his defence lawyer, but the break and consultation didn’t seem to help matters.

“I don’t know what to do in the court. What do I do?” he asked Sikma after the break.

“You can be helped by a lawyer. You have a right to be helped by a lawyer,” Sikma replied.

“How come I’m in jail again?” Pauloosie asked.

But when Sikma began reading the list of charges Pauloosie faced, Pauloosie interrupted her, according to the court transcript.

“How come I’m in jail again? When am I ever going to get my own house? I’m going to fucking kill you. I’m going to kill you. When am I going to get my own stuff?” Pauloosie said.

When Pauloosie appeared again in the Nunavut Court of Justice Feb. 2, he faced two new charges: one count of intimidation by threatening violence and one count of uttering a death threat.

Amy Porteous, acting general counsel for Nunavut’s Crown prosecution office, confirmed Feb. 8 that Pauloosie remains in custody awaiting trial on his charges.

“On the last court date [Feb. 2], defence counsel said he was unable to get instructions from Mr. Pauloosie, so the files were set over until [Feb. 16] to provide more time in which to do so,” Porteous said.

According to court documents, Pauloosie also faces one count of theft for allegedly stealing a framed picture from the Nunavut Crown prosecution offices in Iqaluit.

Police laid that charge in September 2015, but the exact date of the alleged offence is not clear from court documents.

The theft charge has to be prosecuted by a Crown lawyer from outside Nunavut, Porteous said, because it poses a conflict of interest for the Nunavut prosecution office.

Pauloosie’s next appearance at the Nunavut Court of Justice is scheduled for Feb. 16, Porteous said.