HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia Review Board considered a mentally ill man accused in a murder in Halifax this week a "significant risk" to public safety.

Even so, the board began granting Andre Denny conditional leaves from a local psychiatric hospital two months ago.

But law professor Archie Kaiser of Dalhousie University says the term "significant risk" is a specific legal term that didn't mean Denny was considered dangerous.

Kaiser says the term is used when the board wants to retain control over an individual as they are integrated back into society.

Denny was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the beating death of Raymond Taavel outside a local bar.

The accused, diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, is undergoing a psychiatric assessment.

The disposition order from the review board says Denny was granted supervised outings from East Coast Forensic Hospital after adjustments were made to his medication.

Still, the document says Denny continued to struggle and one doctor noted he was unable to distinguish reality from his delusions.