The two guilty verdicts rendered against Adèle Sorella having been overturned in the Court of Appeal, her third trial for the murder of her young daughters in 2009 began Wednesday at the Laval courthouse.
The Crown does not want to give up and insists that the woman be sent behind bars, 14 years after the crime with which she is accused.
“We are talking about the murder of two little girls. Obviously, it is of the greatest importance,” Crown prosecutor Marie-Claude Bourassa told reporters.
The Crown obtained two guilty verdicts, after two jury trials, but they were overturned by the Court of Appeal due to incorrect instructions to the jurors.
But for this third take, the trial will take place differently. Exit the jury: the trial will take place before a judge.
Furthermore, in an unusual procedure, no physical witness will take the stand: the recordings of their testimonies will be played in the court room, under the attentive ear of Judge Myriam Lachance of the Superior Court.
“It’s a little unusual,” agreed Mr. Bourassa, who explains that the decision to proceed in this way was taken after numerous discussions with the accused’s lawyers, Mr. Guy Poupart and Mr. Pierre Poupart, who conducted the first two trials.
All the evidence will be the same: thus, the entirety of what was presented to the judge in the last trial will be included in this one, a way of proceeding which will save a lot of time.
The accused still had to stand up for the reading of the indictment. He is accused of two counts of second-degree murder for causing the deaths of his two little girls, Amanda, aged nine, and Sabrina, aged eight, on March 31, 2009.
“Not guilty,” whispered the now 57-year-old woman.
The Crown intends to present the thesis of “extended suicide”, that is to say that the accused wanted to take her own life and drag her children into death with her.
“All the evidence will demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Ms. Adèle Sorella who indeed caused the death of her children in March 2009. This proof is based on the exclusive opportunity that Ms. Sorella had to commit these crimes,” declared Me Bourassa during his opening statement to the judge. She was alone that morning with her little girls because her mother had been scheduled to be away, she explained.
The girls were found dead in the family home late in the afternoon by their uncle.
No traces of an offense, no traces of violence, no evidence of threats, listed the Crown prosecutor, facts which, according to her, support her thesis.
Despite two trials, elements remain mysterious: the autopsy did not demonstrate the cause of the girls’ deaths.
The trial is expected to last until the end of October.