The ex-actress Geneviève Sabourin, known for having harassed the American actor Alec Baldwin, must again answer for her actions in court, this time for obstructing the work of a constable.
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The incidents that earned her this charge occurred two years ago when she had to be taken out of a court room at the Longueuil courthouse.
Representing herself alone, Ms. Sabourin yesterday, in vain, multiplied interventions to avoid her trial. According to her, the legal proceedings have caused her debts of $100,000, preventing her from finding a job and adequate housing.
She also says she still experiences discrimination in connection with the “Alec Baldwin affair”, in reference to her 2013 conviction in the United States for having harassed the actor.
If she is in trouble again, it is because she would have caused quite a scene in a courtroom in July 2019. She was then present for a civil file concerning her sick mother.
SCREENSHOT / VAT NEWS / QMI AGENCY
The trial of Geneviève Sabourin for obstructing the work of a constable in 2019 began yesterday at the Longueuil courthouse.
The situation had degenerated, to the point where judge Florence Lucas had to have her expelled. Faced with Ms. Sabourin’s refusal, special constables had to take her out by force. During the intervention, she would then have threatened one of them to “screech [son] pencil in the face”, testified yesterday the agent Ian-Alexis Beaulieu.
Traumatized
But the defendant is convinced that she is the victim in this story. She alleges that she suffered a torn shoulder and several marks on her arm.
Yesterday she repeatedly demanded that no special constable be in the courtroom in her presence, saying she has been suffering from post-traumatic shock since serving six months in prison in the United States for having stalked Alec Baldwin.
“Is it possible not to impose on me the presence of armed constables, who wear bulletproof vests? she asked.
In full testimony of agent Beaulieu, Geneviève Sabourin interrupted him, in order to signify his discomfort at being next to his “abuser”.
- Listen to Nada Boumeftah’s column at the microphone of Mario Dumont on QUB Radio:
“minimal” force
“I have to act as a defense lawyer, but I am a victim. I face the person who tore my shoulder, I find it an abuse of my rights, ”she said, before Judge Pierre Bélisle calmly brought her back to order, as he had to do all throughout the day.
During the constable’s cross-examination, Ms. Sabourin compared her injuries to the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in the United States.
“I can be heard screaming [sur l’enregistrement] “You’re hurting me Beaulieu, you’re hurting me”, why not stop, knowing that there could be potential injuries? There is a policeman sentenced to life in prison for a man who said: I can’t breathe anymore, ”she said.
Constable Beaulieu said on several occasions that he used “the most minimal” force.
The trial continues today.