After six days of hearings, the evidence in the sexual assault trial of former MP Harold LeBel is closed. Lawyers for the prosecution and defense will hear their closing arguments on Wednesday, and the jury is expected to decide next week.
Cross-examination of the accused by the prosecution ended Tuesday morning, on the sixth day of hearings. The defense is expected to present its case Wednesday morning, and the prosecution in the afternoon. Judge Serge Francoeur intends to present his instructions to the jurors at the beginning of next week and expects a verdict Monday or Tuesday.
The Court will have heard only three witnesses in this case: a forensic identification technician, the accused and the complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban. A fourth person, who was present during the alleged events in October 2017, ultimately did not testify, having not been called to the stand by either the prosecution or the defence.
The Crown attacks the credibility of LeBel
On Tuesday, prosecution lawyer Jérôme Simard continued and concluded the cross-examination of Mr. LeBel, which began the day before at the end of the day. The latter tried to raise contradictions in the version given by the accused to the police on the day of his arrest and his testimony before judge and jury.
When answering questions from the police when he was arrested in December 2020, for example, the former elected member of the PQ agreed when an officer asked him if he had suffered a “ blackout on the evening of the alleged assault. ” I do not remember. I was sleeping, ”corrected Mr. LeBel on Tuesday.
Last week, the complainant had indicated before judge and jury that she had been slow to file a complaint for fear of “causing waves”. She alleges that she was assaulted by Mr. LeBel in her condo in Rimouski, during a party where the accused had agreed to host her, in addition to another person.
According to the statements of those involved, the events occurred in the early morning, following a discussion over a few glasses of alcohol. According to Mr. LeBel, he and the alleged victim exchanged a kiss. The complainant would also have been hit in the thighs, she says.
“Surprise”, this one would have gone to take a shower. The accused allegedly followed her, undid her bra and attempted to open the bathroom door, locked from the inside by the complainant.
“When I went to the toilet, [c’était] to ask if everything was fine,” replied the accused, when questioned by his lawyer on Monday.
Two beds
After going to bed in a Murphy bed, the complainant would have received a visit from her alleged attacker, who would have subjected her to unwanted touching all night long. Mr. LeBel rejects these allegations altogether.
The accused admits that he slept next to his alleged victim “fully dressed” that evening because his bed was occupied by the other woman he was sheltering in his home. On Tuesday, he was justified in having told investigators that he had “got trapped” that evening.
“The situation trapped me. I have two beds, then I have a girl in one bed, a girl in the other. The situation trapped me; I decided to go to a place,” he said when questioned by the Crown.
“I should have tried to wake up a [d’elles] “, he chained.
Member of the Parti Québécois from 2014 to 2020, Harold LeBel had been excluded from his party’s caucus by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on the day of his arrest. “No one is above the law,” he said.
Mr. LeBel remained in office as an independent MP until election day last month.