A Budweiser in the cup holder, a case of 12 at hand, text messages and calls galore: a driver who drove drunk, at high speed and glued to his cellphone admits to having killed two parents in a collision in 2016 Only their teenager had survived this tragedy.
David Leblanc, 40, pleaded guilty Monday at the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse to causing the death of two people while driving his vehicle while intoxicated. His second trial was to begin soon. David Leblanc was acquitted of the most serious charges in 2019, but the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial.
This evening of November 9, 2016, Pierre Junior Brousseau and Émilie Fortin are going with their 13-year-old daughter, Anakyme, to Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, in Montérégie. The father, behind the wheel, makes his obligatory stop at the intersection of boulevard Laurier (route 116) and rang Nord-Ouest. His headlights are on. Carefully, he crosses boulevard Laurier to turn left heading west.
At the same time, David Leblanc is driving at breakneck speed on Route 116 eastbound. Without ever braking, he collided head-on with the Brosseau-Fortin family’s Mazda 3 vehicle during their turn maneuver. The collision is so violent that the engine of the Mazda is found 25 meters away.
Pierre Junior Brousseau and Émilie Fortin didn’t have a chance. Their daughter Anakyme, seated in the back, was seriously injured. The teenager had courageously testified during the trial.
The police found in the cup holder of the driver’s vehicle a Budweiser bottle that was uncapped and still intact, despite the violence of the collision. A case of 12 beers was also lying on the ground on the passenger side. David Leblanc had a blood alcohol level above 80 mg/100 ml, according to the admitted facts.
The driver had stopped for a few beers in a bar before the collision, we learned at trial. His blood alcohol level was then assessed at 115 mg.
David Leblanc did not let go of his cell phone in the minutes preceding the accident. While driving, he had several calls, including one that lasted approximately five minutes. In addition, he sent and read and text messages.
The speed of David Leblanc’s vehicle is not specified in the agreed statement of facts. He only admits having driven faster than the permitted speed of 90 km/h. At trial, an expert in accident reconstruction estimated the speed of the driver between 120 and 140 km / h.
At trial, in 2019, judge Stéphane Godri had concluded that the accident was “nobody’s fault”, since the evidence did not show that David Leblanc had played a “significant” role in the fatal collision.
The Court of Appeal had criticized the judge in 2021 for not having taken these many elements into account: the blood alcohol level, the speed, the inattention of the accused, the manipulation of his telephone and his audio system in the minutes preceding the accident, the absence of adequate avoidance and braking manoeuvres.
Sentencing submissions will take place shortly.
Me Sabrina Labrie represents the public ministry, while Me Marc-André Gauthier defends the accused.