The trucker responsible for the monster pileup that killed four people on Highway 440 in Laval in 2019 had to face yesterday a dozen relatives of victims in search of answers, present for the opening of the trial.
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“I just want to understand what happened”, dropped Nicolas Marsolais at the exit of the courtroom.
The latter had difficulty in holding back his tears in the morning, after the Crown prosecutor had summarized the case to Judge Yanick Laramée.
At the time of the tragedy, the vehicle in which his father was riding, alongside his wife, had caught fire after the impact. Gilles Marsolais and Michèle Bernier, two new retirees from the Montreal police, didn’t have a chance.
Throughout the day, relatives of victims had to meet the accused at the Laval courthouse, a trying situation for many.
Jagmeet Grewal stands trial for criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm. On August 5, 2019, he was driving on Highway 440 at 100 km / h, without ever reacting to the line of vehicles immobilized at the height of the ramp to Highway 15.
Fatal error
“We are going to demonstrate that Mr. Grewal’s driving, at the wheel of his tractor-trailer, was dangerous, but even more, that it shows a wanton and reckless disregard for the safety of others”, summarized the Crown prosecutor, Me Simon Blais, in his opening statement.
The Journal recently reported that the accused should never have been behind the wheel of his semi-trailer, had it not been for the serious fault of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, which gave him his driver’s license… mistake.
Involved in a traffic collision in 2012 in the United States, Mr. Grewal was subsequently declared permanently unfit to work as a truck driver, in particular because of his psychiatric problems.
Despite these findings, he reapplied for a Class 1 license, which is required to drive a truck. And he got it.
Rekindled emotions
At the time of the pileup, the trucker knew he was not fit to drive, according to the Crown. He was neglecting to control his diabetes and was taking several medications affecting driving, the Journal reported last week.
Disturbing information, unknown to the victims and relatives of people who died until very recently.
“The whole story of the SAAQ’s error troubles me, it’s inexplicable,” said Patricia Laplante, who has never been able to return to work since the pileup due to her injuries.
“We had mourned, the dust had had time to settle. But there, it’s as if we were kicking in to bring it up, ”added Nicolas Marsolais.
Moreover, before the start of his trial, the trucker tried everything to have his SAAQ compensation file, declaring him unfit to drive tractor-trailers, excluded from the evidence.
Same thing for medical documents and the list of his medications.
The lawyers have argued at length on this subject in recent weeks. The Crown ruled that these files concerning his physical and mental state before and after the tragedy were most relevant, since they showed that he was in no condition to drive.
But also that he had to lie on several occasions both when he was hired a few months before the pileup, but afterwards, to an insurer. He had indeed omitted to talk about his diabetes, his sleep problems, his physical pain, his mental disorders, as well as the list of medications he took daily.
His lawyers, My Philipe Knerr and Jean-Daniel Debkoksi, pleaded for their part that this information was confidential and they deplored the way in which it had been seized by the police.
A judge of the Court of Quebec, mandated to decide the question before the start of the trial, recently ruled that these documents were ultimately relevant to the case.
The trial is scheduled for several weeks.