The crown is calling for an exemplary sentence of 18 to 20 years in prison for the driver Éric Légaré, guilty of killing four people, drunk at the wheel of his car, on the Dufferin-Montmorency highway last September.
• Read also: Tragedy on Dufferin-Montmorency: remorseful testimony of Éric Légaré
Crown prosecutor Pierre-Alexandre Bernard believes that a sentence of such magnitude would ultimately have the deterrent effect that sanctions in connection with the “scourge of drunk driving” must have.
Éric Légaré is responsible for the death of four members of the same family, Emma Lemieux, Jackson Fortin, Shellie Lemieux-Fletcher and James Fletcher. The accused mowed them down at high speed as they waited at a red light on the Dufferin-Montmorency highway.
Jackson’s father, Daniel Fortin, said “1,000 years wouldn’t even be enough,” but added that a sentence approaching 15 years would allow the family to be a little more at peace with the drama.
Persist in the crime
Mand Bernard pleaded Wednesday that many aggravating factors must weigh in the balance of this decision, citing in particular the number of victims, the history of the accused and his intoxication.
The lawyer also targeted the “persistence of the accused” despite numerous signals of his intoxication”. Even after repeated contact with a vehicle parked in front of him, a climb on a sidewalk, dangerous overtaking and impacts with a concrete wall, Éric Légaré “chosen to persist in committing offences”.
“We know how it all ended,” dropped the prosecutor.
For his part, the defense lawyer M.and Vincent Montminy proposed to the judge a prison sentence of ten years, recalling that the range of sentences in such matters is usually between six and nine years.
“I would have been embarrassed to plead under ten years because that’s what it’s worth,” submitted the lawyer, insisting that despite the magnitude of the consequences of his client’s gesture, he did not was not “the right candidate” for a sentence that would be a precedent in the country. “He’s a criminal, he committed a crime, but he’s not the worst criminal.”
The Yves Martin comparison
By way of comparison, Yves Martin, who mowed down a small family while drunk driving his van in August 2015, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, the heaviest sentence for an offense of its kind, beyond from the usual range.
The man from Chicoutimi, a repeat offender who has already been charged twice, caused the death of a couple and their young son in a violent swerve in rang Saint-Paul.
The crown in the Légaré file says that four years later, the “need for deterrence” is still crying out, hence his suggestion. In return, the defense believes for its part that the aggravating factors identified in the Martin case, in particular the absence of a guilty plea and remorse, justified a more serious sentence than that requested for Éric Légaré.
Decision to come
Judge Jean-Louis Lemay took this matter under advisement, which will have upset many people at the Quebec City courthouse this week. The sentence will be handed down on April 22.
Éric Légaré pleaded guilty last December to 19 counts, including impaired driving causing death.
The man had a blood alcohol level retroactively calculated at 209mg per 100ml of blood, more than twice the legal limit, in addition to also having cannabis in his body. Reconstructions of the fatal collision had established the speed of the accused’s vehicle at around 130 km/h at the time of impact, all in an area where the limit is 70 km/h.
The victims of the accident
- Emma Lemieux – 10 years old
- Jackson Fortin – 14 years old
- Shellie Fletcher-Lemieux – 44 years old
- James Fletcher – 68 years old