The case of Rohinie Bisesar, the woman charged with fatally stabbing a stranger last December, wrapped up a bizarre week Friday with a judge unsure of who the accused was — and an entire court unsure of where she was.

On Monday Bisesar had appeared before the court by video and launched into a confused spiel involving terrorism and “international security concerns.”

Then, on Wednesday, when she was supposed to appear by video, a prison guard appeared on screen in her place and explained that Bisesar had been hospitalized. This came as a surprise to everyone in the courtroom including her lawyer, David Burke, who along with Calvin Barry has been representing Bisesar and didn’t know his client had been moved or why.

On Friday morning, the confusion continued. Bisesar was scheduled to appear in Old City Hall at 10 a.m. but again, none of the courtroom staff seemed to know where she was.

“Is anybody here for Mr. Bisesar?” asked Justice John Ritchie. When no one spoke up, Ritchie, who was filling in for another judge and unfamiliar with the case, turned to the gallery and asked why so many people were present for the hearing.

The body of the court was occupied by about half a dozen reporters and a man who stated before court began that he wanted to date Bisesar and had been trying to give her a letter.

After a reporter explained most of the people present were members of the media the judge still seemed confused and asked if they were part of a school group, referring to them as students and saying, “you picked the wrong court, it’s a course is it?”

He was again corrected and told it was a high-profile case to which he responded, “Oh, I didn’t know that! What does Rohinie do? Is he a sports figure of some kind?’ ”

A reporter spoke up, explaining that Bisesar is accused of walking into an underground Shoppers Drug Mart in the city’s financial district on Dec. 11 and stabbing 28-year-old Rosemarie Junor before walking away. Police said they believe the two women had never met before.

Junor later died and Bisesar was arrested after a manhunt following the attack in the PATH system.

“Oh, it’s a female,” said Ritchie, “I think I saw her picture in the paper.”

After Ritchie was made aware of who Bisesar is, he said court would reconvene at 11:30 a.m. with the hope that her lawyer would be present at that time.

Moments later, the court clerk came out of the courtroom and told reporters that she had just learned that Bisesar — who was supposed to appear in person — was still in hospital and would not be appearing.

When media gathered outside the courtroom close to 11:30 a.m., the clerk emerged again and revealed that Bisesar’s legal team had mistakenly thought her appearance was at 2 p.m. and that court would be back in session then.

Finally, at 2:33 p.m. Crown attorney Beverly Richards stood alone before the judge and explained that she was speaking on behalf of both herself and the defence.

She acknowledged that the matter had appeared before Ritchie without much notice and explained that after Bisesar’s outburst on Monday the Crown had concerns about her fitness to stand trial.

“Quite frankly, she appeared very unwell,” said Richards.

Ritchie himself made headlines following the Star’s 2014 report in which he confirmed he’d been the subject of a complaint by the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, accusing him of legal errors, appearance of bias and recycling “boilerplate” statements in rulings.

Following a review by the Judicial Council, Ritchie told the Star he had taken a refresher course on how to write better judgments.

“It was a good course,” he told the Star at the time. “I liked it.”

In October, the Ontario Judicial Council dismissed an application by the Star and the CLA to make public “all documents and information” relating to the complaint.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The Star is seeking review of that dismissal in Divisional Court.

Bisesar will appear in person at Old City Hall on April 20, at 9 a.m.