Everything has to be done again at the trial of Jean-Pierre Bellemare, tried for home invasion. After five days of deliberations, jurors were unable to agree on a unanimous verdict, causing the trial to be aborted on Monday.
The disagreement within the jury was felt on Sunday. Judge Daniel Royer then urged the jurors to try one last time to reach an agreement. But on Monday, we had to face the facts, a unanimous verdict was impossible. It was an impasse. A situation known as a “hung jury” in English.
A new jury trial must therefore be scheduled for next year at the Montreal courthouse.
Jean-Pierre Bellemare, a hardened criminal already sentenced to practically a life sentence, was on trial for having committed a home invasion in the house of a Montreal-North notary in September 2018 with the help of an accomplice, not identified.
By ringing the doorbell of the residence, the intruders knocked out the occupant, Claude Germain, then blindfolded him with adhesive tape. “I’m going to kill you,” one of the attackers said in English, Claude Germain, a man with no history, testified at the trial.
The intruders asked him where the jewelry and money were, but they seemed particularly interested in his partner. When an assailant saw the photo of a policewoman – his partner’s daughter – on a bookcase, his attitude seemed to change. They left shortly afterward, telling him that his partner “was going to pay.”
According to the Crown’s theory, Jean-Pierre Bellemare was one of the two attackers. Moreover, three days before the home invasion, Bellemare allegedly went to a pizzeria to have a pizza delivered to the Germain-Ouellette couple – who had not ordered anything.
Nine months later, when he was questioned by the police, Jean-Pierre Bellemare wore exactly the same shirt as the man who ordered this pizza, according to the Crown.
Also, when an American customs officer searched Bellemare’s car a few months later, he discovered a piece of adhesive tape on which Claude Germain’s DNA was found.
Earlier this year, Jean-Pierre Bellemare was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting two employees of a halfway house with a firearm. He did not receive his sentence in this case.
Jean-Pierre Bellemare was sentenced in 2022 to an indeterminate sentence, the worst sentence, for kidnapping a 12-year-old girl who was waiting for the bus in Sutton. He was also declared a dangerous offender. However, he is on appeal in this case.
Me Patrick Lafrenière represented the public prosecutor, while the accused was defended by Mr.e Emilie Serdakowski.