The trial of the Joliette real estate developer accused of attempted murder of a lawyer who represented the Desjardins Movement will have to start from scratch next fall since the judge has suddenly recused himself.
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Rather than continuing the trial of Jean-François Malo Thursday afternoon at the Longueuil courthouse, Judge Christian Jarry read a letter indicating that he was recusing himself due to the appearance of bias, without going into detail. .
However, neither the Crown nor the defense had made such a request.
“We are all in shock,” said the accused’s lawyer, M.e Karl-Emmanuel Harrison, before Judge Julie-Maude Greffe, responsible for finding new dates at the Court of Quebec.
The challenge of a judge implies the abortion of the trial. All the evidence that had already been presented will therefore have to be presented again.
Judge Greffe, however, asked the parties to check whether parts of evidence could be filed before the new judge, whose identity is not yet known, in order to avoid certain testimonies.
Trial well started
The real estate developer’s trial, which began on March 11, was in its third week out of the four scheduled on the calendar.
Jean-François Malo is accused of attempted murder, discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and intimidation.
According to the evidence that the public prosecutor planned to present, Malo would have sent two men to “assassinate” lawyer Nicholas Daudelin at his residence in Mont-Saint-Hilaire in March 2020. The victim was ultimately injured in one leg.
His trial will therefore have to start again before a new judge in September for a period of five weeks which will last until the end of October.
The defense has already indicated that it wants to file a Jordan-type motion due to long legal delays.
“It risks jeopardizing a case as serious as this,” commented retired judge Nicole Gibeault.
The two other co-defendants in this case, Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye, 43, and Daouda Dieng, 37, have already undergone their trial and were sentenced to 9 and 10 years in prison for discharging a firearm.