Man accused of shooting at the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) Sanjay Vig in January and killing a fellow inmate last summer challenges psychiatric report which concludes he is fit to stand trial.
This was announced by Ali Ngarukiye’s lawyer, Me Lloyd Fischler, Wednesday morning. Ali Ngarukiye appeared in person, under heavy surveillance, at the Montreal courthouse.
He had appeared Monday, by videoconference, from the Philippe-Pinel Institute, where he is currently detained, but the hearing was so disheveled and the accused, so erratic, that Judge Salvatore Mascia of the Court of Quebec asked that it be postponed until Wednesday, and that Ngarukiye be present in the room, together with his lawyer.
Wednesday morning’s hearing was hardly more assured.
PHOTO ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Ali Ngarukiye
“He’s not my lawyer. How could he be my lawyer, I don’t need a lawyer, ”Ngarukiye immediately launched to judge Guylaine Rivest, speaking of Mr.e Fischler.
“He’s here to help you. You do not agree ? », Asked the magistrate calmly.
“No,” Ngarukiye replied.
“I want my bag,” he added, presumably referring to an object in the possession of his lawyer.
“Could we remove the plexiglass, can’t I see you?” “, He also asked Judge Rivest, who replied that it was impossible.
The magistrate was very patient with the accused, quietly explaining the procedures to come.
Considered dangerous
Last Monday, the parties received a report from a psychiatrist at the Philippe-Pinel Institute who concluded that the accused was fit to stand trial.
But after speaking with his client ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Mr.e Fischler announced that these findings are being challenged.
A one-day debate will therefore take place on January 24. The psychiatrist who wrote the report will be called to the witness stand. The pursuit is represented by Me Louis Bouthillier.
In the meantime, Me Fischler demanded that Ngarukiye be returned to Philippe-Pinel, and not to the Rivière-des-Prairies Detention Center, “in the best interests of [son] client, ”he said.
Ali Ngarukiye was scheduled to appear in person at the courthouse last month, but it was decided otherwise, given his dangerousness.
“He is aggressive and represents a threat to the safety of everyone,” said Judge André Perreault.
And Monday, it was his hands handcuffed and chained to a wheelchair, flanked by two guards, that he appeared by videoconference from the Philippe-Pinel Institute.
Ali Ngarukiye is accused of having tried to kill the policeman Sanjay Vig in the Parc-Extension district. The affair made the headlines last winter, especially as a motorist without history, to whom the agent had just given a ticket, Mamadi III Fara Camara, was unjustly accused of this crime. Victim of an error on the person, he was finally released six days later and exonerated across the board by the police, who even apologized to him.
Two months later, Ali Ngarukiye was arrested in Toronto for this crime. During his preventive detention, he allegedly murdered his fellow prisoner André Lapierre. The latter was found dead in the cell he shared with Ngarukiye at the Rivière-des-Prairies detention center. He therefore faces a charge of murder and contempt of a corpse.
With Louis-Samuel Perron
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of Press.