Crown highlights contradictions in accused’s statements in Starbucks stabbing trial

A psychologist called by the defence in the trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing another man at a Vancouver Starbucks faced cross-examination Thursday.

Under cross-examination by the Crown, an expert witness called by the defence in a second-degree murder trial called contradictions in the accused’s statements “troubling.”

Dr. Johann Brink, a forensic psychiatrist, has been on the stand for two days testifying about his opinion on the mental state of Inderdeep Singh Gosal in March of 2023, when Gosal got into a verbal altercation outside a downtown Vancouver Starbucks with Paul Schmidt.

The confrontation turned physical after Schmidt approached Gosal on the patio and was fatally stabbed six times.

The court has already heard testimony about Gosal’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, which caused paranoia, delusions and hallucinations.

Brink told the court the case is nuanced and complex, and he couldn’t attribute all of Gosal’s alleged actions to his psychosis.

“If I believed that all this was purely the result of psychosis, then I would have recommended to counsel a defence of NCR,” Brink testified.

NCR refers to Not Criminally Responsible Due to Mental Disorder under section 16 of the Criminal Code.

It has not been raised in this case.

Under cross-examination, the Crown pressed Brink on contradictions in Gosal’s various statements about the day of the alleged crime and other aspects of his life and mental health.

Gosal testified that he found the knife on a dumpster earlier on the day of the fight.

He had also told the psychiatrist in an earlier interview that he had never previously owned a knife.

But the court has heard police found Gosal carrying a knife during interactions in 2016 and 2017.

Brink told the court if Gosal habitually walked around with a knife, it changes the scenario in his opinion.

“A man who goes about armed with a knife…would suggest that he plans to use it, because he anticipates the need for it,” he said.

Brink will return to the stand on Friday for more cross-examination.

Next week, the Crown plans to call its own psychiatrist as a rebuttal witness.