The civil proceedings brought individually by nine alleged victims of ex-humor mogul Gilbert Rozon will be the subject of a single trial, which will begin next December.
Judge Frédéric Pérodeau, of the Superior Court of Quebec, granted a request for joinder of the proceedings on Tuesday. The nine cases will therefore be judged on the same evidence. The single trial will take place between December 9, 2024 and March 27, 2025 and will include 43 hearing days.
According to the different parties, it would have taken more than 100 hearing days to hear the nine separate trials, underlined in a press release Me Anne-Julie Asselin, one of the lawyers for the nine alleged victims. The latter are Lyne Charlebois, Annick Charette, Patricia Tulasne, Anne-Marie Charette, Sophie Moreau, Danie Frenette, Guylaine Courcelles, Marylena Sicari and Martine Roy.
“With a single trial, not only do we prevent victims from having to relive the trauma beyond what is necessary, but it is also a considerable saving of resources for all parties,” said Mr.e Asselin. Without providing further comments, she maintained that “significant similar fact evidence will be made in these cases.”
Joined by The duty, Mr. Rozon’s lawyer, Mr.e Pascal A. Pelletier, indicated that the request for joinder of proceedings aimed “in particular to respect the entire judicial system while allowing the parties to be heard within a reasonable time”.
In November 2020, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal request of the “Courageuses”, who wished to be able to undertake a collective action against Mr. Rozon. This group included around twenty women claiming to have been attacked by the ex-humor mogul between 1982 and 2016. A month later, the founder of Just for Laughs was acquitted at the end of his criminal trial for the alleged rape by Annick Charette. Justice then looked into events that occurred 40 years earlier in Saint-Sauveur, in the Laurentians.
With Améli Pineda