Yann Giroux was triumphant as he left the courtroom on Thursday at the Montreal courthouse. He had just had a narrow escape. The 36-year-old man was facing serious charges: sexual assault, assault by strangulation and criminal harassment of a woman. He denied the facts.
But because his case exceeded the 18-month “Jordan ceiling” by approximately three months, he benefited from a halt to the legal process due to unreasonable delays. Judge Pierre Dupras therefore did not have to rule on his guilt, even if the trial took place at the beginning of October.
Joanie* dated Yann Giroux for a few months. She describes him as a “jealous and very controlling” man: he prevented her from going to the convenience store alone, changed her passwords and tracked her on her phone.
“He told me: ‘I’m going to sequester you. If I can’t have you, no one’s going to have you. You’re driving me crazy,’” Joanie said at the trial.
He was also violent: spitting in the face, kicking, pulling hair, she describes.
And an episode during which the victim says she was strangled.
He strangled me in the living room. He asked me: “When was the last time you saw your ex?” He came in a rage. He strangled me. The more I screamed, the more he pushed the pillow into my face. I had difficulty breathing.
Joanie, during the trial of Yann Giroux
“I am not aware of this story,” defended Yann Giroux.
One evening with friends, Yann Giroux asked him for oral sex in the toilet, Joanie relates. She refused. It was there that he sexually assaulted her, she testified.
This judgment will “worry” the victims, warns Louise Riendeau, spokesperson for the Group of houses for women victims of domestic violence.
“It’s already an obstacle course to file a complaint and go and testify. If women fear finding themselves in a situation where there are no consequences for filing a complaint, it risks discouraging many,” she worries.
Louise Riendeau hopes that this decision will not have a “deterrent” effect on the victims. “Justice can help stop people from acting and allow victims to regain power over their lives,” she says. In his eyes, there is a lack of specialized prosecutors and court staff.
The big boss of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), Mr.e Patrick Michel wants to be reassuring and calls on victims to continue to denounce.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Me Patrick Michel, big boss of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions
“Although the reduction in the number of days seated by the judges of the Court of Quebec has contributed to the consequences of the pandemic’s backlash on legal delays, we are confident of being able to complete the proceedings initiated due in particular to the addition of judges and days of hearings,” he maintains.
On the tightrope
In the Jordan decision, the Supreme Court set a ceiling of 18 months (30 months in some cases) between indictment and the end of the trial. Beyond that, the fundamental rights of the accused are violated, unless he is responsible for the delays or in exceptional circumstances.
In recent months, several Jordan judgments have been handed down in Quebec, especially in the area of drug trafficking. In most cases, the Crown had almost nothing to reproach itself for. Institutional delays – those caused by the dysfunction or slowness of the judicial system – were most often singled out.
The DPCP recalls that the “vast majority” of cases take place within the Jordan parameters. Several requests were also rejected this fall.
Still, prosecutors walk a tightrope. For the past two years, trials lasting more than two days have been scheduled between 12 and 14 months later in several districts due to staff shortages and a lack of judges. Thus, the slightest oddity puts the file at risk of exceeding the 18-month mark.
Yann Giroux appeared in February 2021. However, it was not until March 2022 that the Crown disclosed crucial evidence to the defense. At this point, 70% of the Jordan deadline had passed. According to Judge Dupras, it is “inadmissible” that this evidence was communicated so late. The magistrate therefore blamed the Crown for the two-month delay until the next hearing.
Without this oddity, the file would still have exceeded the ceiling – albeit by seven days. The lion’s share of delays is rather attributable to institutional delays. When the trial was set for August 2022, the earliest available dates were October 2023.
Pandemic “backlash”
The Crown tried, unsuccessfully, to blame the “backlash” of the COVID-19 pandemic on the justice system. This argument is regularly raised by the prosecution in the Jordan files. A similar decision in a domestic violence case was appealed last summer.
According to the DPCP, the argument of the pandemic “backlash” was used by different authorities in the country. Thus, the public prosecutor plans to appeal the Giroux judgment. The Court of Appeal therefore risks deciding the fate of numerous Jordan cases.
In 2022, the Justice Department feared that tens of thousands of stoppages to the legal process would occur in the following years. The catastrophe did not materialize. That said, The Press reported last September a wave of 126 “Jordan stops” in Nunavik and Abitibi-Témiscamingue due to catastrophic delays.
The Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, pointed out last year the controversial reform of the Court of Quebec reducing the number of days judges sit in court.
Since then, an agreement has been reached between Quebec and the Court of Quebec. The appointment of new judges thus brings a breath of fresh air to certain judicial districts under high tension. A recent incest case, for example, was heard at the last minute by a new judge in November.
* Fictitious name
Some cases of Jordan judgments
- Eight people who allegedly participated in a cannabis production and distribution network in the Trois-Rivières region benefited from a halt to the legal process last spring.
- Shubhumkumar Taheem, a man accused of domestic violence, benefited from a Jordan ruling in mid-June. No judge was available during his trial scheduled for last February.
- Mitchell Lifshitz, alleged leader of a cannabis production and distribution network, escaped due to delays last July in Montreal. The case is on appeal.
- Shane James, suspected of having led a fentanyl trafficking network in downtown Montreal, benefited from the Jordan ruling last October. The deadline exceeded the ceiling by a month and a half.