The incest trial jeopardized by the sudden absence of judge Joëlle Roy, unable to sit since a column by Yves Boisvert criticized her work, could be concluded by Christmas before a new judge.
“This happy outcome will allow the victims to continue their testimony without having to start again. Until then, we ensure that they receive all the support required in the circumstances,” he told The Press Me Rachelle Pitre, chief prosecutor in the Montreal office of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP).
The trial of this 63-year-old Montrealer, accused of sexually assaulting his three daughters in the 1990s, will therefore continue on November 20 before another judge. Such a scenario is very rare, even if it is provided for in the Criminal Code, when a judge is absent for a long term. The duration of Judge Roy’s absence is unknown.
“These concerted efforts also ensure that the case can continue within a reasonable time and within the parameters set by the Jordan decision,” argues Ms.e Pitre, welcoming the collaboration of the Court of Quebec. Me Anna Levin is leading the case for the public prosecutor.
The Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, was sensitive to the fate of the victims in this case. “I am very concerned about the fact that the victims will have to come back and testify,” the minister declared in mid-October.
This uproar stems from the exceptional and unusual outing of judge Joëlle Roy. On the third day of the incest trial, the magistrate arrived on the bench in tears, upset by a column by Yves Boisvert. She then said she was the victim of a “personal attack […] very vicious” and incapable of sitting.
The chronicler of The Press had called into question the judgment of Judge Roy following an acquittal that seemed steeped in myths and stereotypes in a sexual assault case. The judge criticized the complainant for not getting dressed and not opening her eyes during the alleged attack.
Yves Boisvert also pointed out that Judge Roy had been corrected “severely” on numerous occasions by the appeal courts during her career. “At this level of correction, we can definitely question his competence,” concluded the columnist.
Note that last week, the Court of Appeal once again demolished a decision by Judge Roy, who had ordered a halt to the legal process in the high-profile corruption case of the former president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal Frank Zampino. A new trial was ordered.
Two days after the column, Judge Roy returned to the bench, not to continue the incest trial, but to read a letter to Yves Boisvert. Never before seen, according to experts questioned by The Press who question the “serenity” of the magistrate.
“Yesterday’s article by Mr. Yves Boisvert in The Press was very violent towards me. Violence of the kind that we see, unfortunately, in the courts every day. It is no longer the judge who is being attacked, but the woman. A woman who, moreover, cannot defend herself,” declared Judge Roy in the courtroom.
“It is a violence that I chose to denounce this morning. This is no longer journalism, but abuse of opinion, abuse of the power of words,” concluded the judge.
Judge Roy was to make a decision in a sexual assault case that day. Even though her decision was ready, she did not make it. The fate of this case remains unresolved.