Convicted of the murder of her two daughters, Laval resident Adèle Sorella is trying to overturn her guilty verdict in March 2019 in the Court of Appeal on Monday.
Even though jurors never offered the reasoning behind their decision – only having to find “guilty” or “not guilty” – this verdict meant they rejected his defense of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.
Lawyers for the 56-year-old woman had testified at the trial of experts who believed that she had likely experienced an episode of dissociation on the day of the death of the little girls. Mme Sorella, who testified in her defense, told the jury that she had almost no recollection of the day on March 31, 2009.
That day, nine-year-old Amanda and eight-year-old Sabrina were found lifeless, lying side by side in their playroom at the family home in Laval.
A particular element in this case is that the cause of death of the girls has never been determined. The Crown argued that the most likely theory of death is that they would have been placed in the hyperbaric chamber installed in the house – to treat one of the girls – and that they ran out of air.
To have his conviction quashed, Mr.me Sorella relies on several arguments before the Court of Appeal. She argues that the guilty verdicts are unreasonable and not supported by the evidence, that the rejection of the defense of not criminally responsible is just as unreasonable, and that Judge Sophie Bourque of the Superior Court made errors in her directives. to the jury.
The second degree murder verdict that fell on Adèle Sorella automatically carries a sentence of life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 10 years. All that remained for Judge Bourque was to determine the minimum period of time that the mother would spend behind bars.
The magistrate had gone there with the minimum prescribed by law: 10 years. In her sentencing judgment, she described at length the mental health issues from which the woman was suffering. She noted that this is one of the relevant factors to consider in sentencing, “even though the defense of not criminally responsible has been rejected. “
Today, Adèle Sorella must live with a verdict which says that she killed what she had most precious, her two daughters, wrote the judge at the time.