Opinion | How killer Dalibor Klaric’s trial was jeopardized by Barton jail’s failure to give him his fentanyl withdrawal meds

“You wouldn’t focus,” says Demaline.

On Jan. 11, a Wednesday eight days into his trial, Klaric was brought to the John Sopinka Courthouse from the jail without having his suboxone. His lawyer, Jordana Goldlist, hoped the situation would be sorted for the next day. But it wasn’t.

Klaric was without medication again on Thursday because his dosages hadn’t been timed properly by the jail. In an effort to rectify that, Arrell issued an order commanding the jail to give Klaric his medication Friday morning before court.

Klaric entered the courtroom Friday without his suboxone again.

Goldlist said her client needed his medication and wouldn’t be able to continue if he didn’t get it.

The screw-up was “an expensive mistake,” the judge said, noting that court staff, lawyers, a jury and witnesses were all on hold.

The jury was sent home early.

Goldlist says that apart from Klaric’s comfort level and ability to focus, she was also aware of how withdrawal symptoms might look to jurors.

“I didn’t want him to look like some junkie,” she says.

That Sunday, Goldlist went to the jail to meet Klaric. She talked to staff about the meds and ensured they gave him his suboxone while she was there, at a time that would allow him to get his next dose before court on Monday.

But on Monday, he didn’t get his meds.

This time, Klaric refused to come to court without his meds. Eventually he arrived — late and without his suboxone. The trial paused again.

“I don’t know what to do,” Goldlist told Arrell. “It’s significant.”

That’s when the judge summoned the jail staff to the courtroom. An hour later, a deputy superintendent was sworn in on the witness stand and was offering apologies, though no real explanation.

Klaric was then taken back to the jail, given his suboxone and returned to court to continue his trial.

There were no medication problems for the remainder of the trial.

Goldlist knows Klaric is one example of the wider problem.

Another of her clients, David Gillan, was one of the inmates at the centre of a “super inquest” last year to examine eight drug overdose deaths at the Hamilton jail. Gillan had used fentanyl.

Goldlist cites the jails in Hamilton and St. Catharines as two of the worst. She’s gone to meet with clients at those facilities and they’ve been too high to talk to. Some of her clients were introduced to fentanyl in jail.

“They can access fentanyl just as easily in jail as on the street.”

Susan Clairmont’s commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. sclairmont@thespec.com

905-526-3539 | @susanclairmont

Susan Clairmont’s commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. sclairmont@thespec.com

905-526-3539 | @susanclairmont