Michael MacIsaac had no history of violent outbursts caused by epilepsy, doctor tells police shooting inquest

A doctor who treated Michael MacIsaac for epilepsy before he was fatally shot by Durham police while running nakedin mental distress on an Ajax street nearly four years ago told a coroner's inquest Monday she has "no evidence"her patient suffered from violent episodes after a seizure.

Dr. Danielle Andrade spoke about MacIsaac's history with epilepsy, stating his family had never shared with her experiences of violence or psychosis a state of impaired mental consciousness in which an individual loses touch with reality following a seizure.

Andrade is one of three medical experts to speak before a five-person jury about MacIsaac's mental state leading up to the shooting that saw the Ajax man run into the street naked and harass passing drivers. It happened after a physical confrontation involving MacIsaac, his wife and her sister inside their home.

A state of mental distress

The 47-year-old, his family asserts, was in the midst of an epilepsy-related psychological episode that led him to behave oddly and erratically.

MacIsaac was shot twicesome 12 seconds after Const. Brian Taylor stepped out of his cruiser in a suburban Ajax neighbourhood on Dec. 2, 2013.

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The 18-year police veteran testified last week thatMacIsaacwas wielding a metal table leg as a weapon as he rushed at him. The officersaid he worried about his own safety and that of one of the other witnesses.

At some point,MacIsaacsmashed a piece of patio furniture into the door of a home, arming himself with two of the table's broken legs, police allege.

The 94-centimetre, 0.45-kilogram piece of curved hollow metal has become a critical piece of evidence in the case, as there are conflicting accounts of just how threateningMacIsaacappeared while holding the table leg.

He needed help. He was not a criminal.-MarianneMadjarian, MacIsaac's wife

Police and several witnesses have offered different accounts ofwhat happened.

Some witnesses have testified thatMacIsaacwas gripping the patio table leg while advancing on Taylor, while others amongthe 18 witnesses have said they're unsure he was still holding the piece of metal when police opened fire on him.

Investigators found the legnear the pool of bloodin the middle of the streetthat marked whereMacIsaacallegedly fell to the ground and stopped moving.

A clerical error by aSpecial Investigations Unit (SIU) forensic scientist led to the leg being disposed ofprematurely.

'He needed help'

Both MacIsaac's wife and sister, Joanne, have said he had epilepsy and would suffer bouts of profound confusion.

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MacIsaac's wife, Marianne Madjarian, described a man struggling to come to terms with his illness during previous testimony. She claims MacIsaac loved his family dearly and had no history of violence or confounding incidents like the one on the chilly winter morning he was shot.

"He was in a mental health crisis, which is apparent when you're running around naked on a cold morning,"Madjarian said. "He needed help. He was not a criminal."

She disputes the claim that he was still carrying a table leg when he was shot by Taylor, firmly maintaining that her husband did nothing to warrant his death.

Sickness can trigger seizures

That day, MacIsaac, a construction worker, had informed his employerthat he was too ill to go to work. Madjarian said it was clear the day before that he was unwell.

"He had a fever. By noon that day he did suffer a seizure, I found him contorted,"she told the inquest last Monday.

Shortly before 10 a.m. on the day of the shooting, she was shocked when her husband, an otherwise "very modest" man, appeared in her office completely naked and insistedhe had to leave.

After she tried to restrain him, there was a physical confrontation. Madjarian's sister was also in the house and she too ended up involved in the skirmish.

MacIsaac eventually broke free and took off running into the cold morning. It was Madjarian's sister who made the initial 911 call.

When askedby the MacIsaacfamily's lawyer, Roy Wellington, whethersickness can trigger a seizure or epileptic episode, Andrade answered yes, but added it's unlikely for psychosis to be a symptom.

"It's more likely after a very long seizure,"she said.

Common symptoms include agitation and confusion, but rarely psychosis, she asserted.

Epilepsy and psychosis is uncommon

Andrade told the inquest she is only aware of one instance when MacIsaac had suffered from a long seizure. This had been in her office.He was almost unaware of it, she claimed. He did not tip into psychosis then.

Another epilepsy expert who testified at the coroner's inquest Monday, Dr. Warren Blume, confirmed the link between patients with epilepsy and psychosisis uncommon.

"The number of patients that have both disorders, I think, with my rudimentary experience, is very low,"Blume stated.

The neurologistexplained the condition known as Post Ictal Psychosis psychosis following a seizure typically results in a sudden turn of personality, such as menacing or seething andcan also be predictive of violence.

"I had one patient who just suddenly changed, right in front of my eyes, and I tell you the fear goes right through you,"he asserted.

MacIsaac was on several medications to treat his epilepsy. Some of these medications could cause abnormal behaviour, such as irritability and aggressiveness, but Andrade explained she hadn't noticed any behavioural changes in MacIsaac since he began taking the drugs.

As a result, she had not prescribed any anti-psychotics.

"You only use them to treat symptoms once you see the psychosis,"Andrade said. "They're never prescribed first."

The inquest is expected to hear from experts on the police's use of force Tuesday.