Yukon inmate Michael Nehass wants 'international lawyer' for dangerous offender hearing

Michael Nehass, a Yukon man with a violent criminal record, faces a hearing this week in which a Yukon judge will decide whether to declare him a dangerous offender.

The designation could keep him in jail indefinitely.

Nehass, 32, was in Yukon Supreme Court on Wednesday, for the start of a sentencing hearing for his conviction last year for assaulting a woman at knifepoint in Watson Lake.  

• Yukon Supreme Court finds Michael Nehass guilty of assault
• Michael Nehass to undergo assessment for dangerous offender status

A Yukon Supreme Court justice earlier this year ordered a psychiatric assessment be done on Nehass ahead of the sentencing. 

Canada's attorney general has seen the assessment report and on Tuesday filed consent to proceed with a hearing to determine dangerous offender status. 

Besides his conviction last year, Nehass has also been convicted of aggravated assault several times. 

In 2003, when he was 19, Nehass and another man tortured a cocaine dealer in Whitehorse to collect drug money. They cut off the man's finger with a meat cleaver and beat him with a baseball bat. 

According to Public Safety Canada, a dangerous offender designation is "intended to protect all Canadians from the most dangerous violent and sexual predators in the country." 

After declaring someone a dangerous offender, a judge can impose an indeterminate sentence with no chance of parole for seven years, a regular sentence of imprisonment for the offence and a long-term supervision order in the community after release, or a regular sentence of imprisonment for the offence.

Wants an 'international lawyer,' cites conspiracy

Nehass represented himself in court on Wednesday. He was flanked by two police officers and a sheriff. 

He appeared gaunt and spoke at a rapid-fire pace, often gesturing above his head with his hands.

Nehass told the court he was firing his lawyer, the fourth one he's dismissed since 2011. 

He said he is seeking an "international lawyer" who could argue that Nehass is not a Canadian citizen but instead a "non-treaty Aboriginal person." 

Nehass also said he believes the United Nations should intervene under the Geneva Conventions. He said Switzerland should pay his court fees through the Hague — an international court actually based in the Netherlands. 

"I want an international lawyer who is not bound to Canada," he told the court. 

Justice Scott Brooker said he would allow Nehass to make what he called "non-traditional arguments," but advised the man to start co-operating with lawyers. 

"I've done everything I can to find you a lawyer, sir, but there's a limit. In a way, you're your own worst enemy," Brooker said.

Before court was dismissed on Wednesday, Nehass denounced CSIS as well as something he called "cyber-educationists."   

The judge replied, "OK, that's enough for today."

In custody since 2011

Nehass has been in custody in Yukon for the last five years, much of that time spent in solitary confinement. At a February hearing on another matter, a psychologist testified his mental health has worsened during his years in the Whitehorse jail.

He has argued he was mistreated at the jail and that his imprisonment conditions are inhumane and inappropriate. 

Since being detained he has been convicted for several infractions, including an assault on a guard and causing more than $35,000 in damages to the facility. 

"I've received no treatment. No treatment for anger issues or substance abuse," he said in court on Wednesday. 

The sentencing hearing reconvenes Thursday.