Twenty days after Frédérick Silva announced that he had unsuccessfully approached nearly 200 lawyers to represent him, two criminal lawyers came forward to defend the former organized crime hitman turned police collaborator.
One of these lawyers came forward after the publication of an article by The Press published on October 28, while the other is a legal aid worker based in Quebec City who was approached by officials from the Commission des services juridiques du Québec.
The first had communications with Frédérick Silva and gave himself a month to make a decision while the second could take the file but not before the end of January, which is a bit far for the taste of judge Marc David of the Court superior.
“I insist that there be at least preliminary communication between Mr. Silva and this lawyer before January. It is in everyone’s interest that the file progress and we have reached a very advanced stage. This is the first time at least that we have concrete and that names have been put forward, ”said Judge David.
The latter also declined in court on Friday afternoon the names of four experienced lawyers for whom he said he had a lot of respect. One of them, however, has already been approached by Frédérick Silva, without success.
The cause has been postponed to December 7 and it could be that on this date, we formalize the name of a lawyer who will have agreed to take the file of the former killer.
Shock waves in the criminal world
Silva, 42, was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 25 years for the fall 2018 murders of three men, and an attempted murder of the Mafia clan leader Salvatore Scoppa in February 2017.
He was also convicted of the second-degree murder of a patron of a downtown Montreal bar in May 2017, but the sentence has not yet been handed down.
At the end of June, however, Frédérick Silva began to collaborate with the police.
He is currently at the heart of a major investigation led by investigators from Major Crimes and the Organized Crime Division of the Montreal Police Service, and Crimes Against Persons from the Sûreté du Québec.
However, he still needs a lawyer to discuss the length of the parole ineligibility period in the case of the attempted murder of Scoppa.
In addition, when his former lawyers stopped representing him, a request for disclosure of evidence was active and the reopening of a request for abuse of process was still possible.
Simultaneously, Silva also initiated proceedings with the Court of Appeal in relation to the verdicts rendered against him for his three assassinations committed in 2018 and the attempted murder of Scoppa.
Moreover, one of the prosecutors who had been on the case from the start, Mr.e Antoine Piché, was appointed judge at the Court of Quebec on Thursday and it is his former partner, Me Nathalie Kléber, from the Bureau of Serious Crime and Special Affairs, who holds the fort for the future.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.