To be acquitted, a man accused of sexual assault pleaded sexsomnia, that is to say that he claims to have no memory of what he is accused of, because he was sleeping.
This unusual defence, which is a sleep disorder akin to a form of somnambulism during which sexual acts are performed, was invoked by Yannick Giguère, aged 45, during his trial which took place last April. . This is not the first time that this defense has been argued and it has already led to acquittals in the past.
The pleadings were offered Tuesday morning to Judge André Perreault of the Court of Quebec, at the Montreal courthouse.
The magistrate had the opportunity to hear the complainant in her courtroom.
The latter, who cannot be identified by order of the Court, told him of an evening in July 2018 which took place with the accused and one of his friends in a restaurant, then in a pub in the city center of Montreal.
After “shooters” and pitchers of sangria – Yannick Giguère said he drank three alone – the two women went to sleep at his place because he lived closer.
Feeling too cramped on the small mattresses piled up in the living room where the friend was already dozing, the thirties went to sleep in the bed of the accused who had, she said, also offered this option to her.
Except that she woke up in the middle of the night, the accused above her, who was rubbing in her crotch, she told judge Perreault. She says she froze. “I was afraid of his reaction, of what was going to happen. She says she closed her eyes. No words were spoken. No kissing or caresses, she said. She heard the sound of an envelope being torn. She thought of a condom. Then the man penetrated her, she said.
“Yannick Giguère has no memory of what she says”, pleaded his lawyer, Me Lawrence July. “He was in a state of automatism. »
The lawyer filed the expert opinion of a psychiatrist which supports this conclusion of sexsomnia. An ex-spouse of Yannick Giguère came to testify that this had happened with her on several occasions. Me Juillet pleaded that the complainant’s description of the attack — an absence of kisses, caresses, touches, words and a robotic and mechanical nature — corresponds to the characteristics of sexomnia, as described by the psychiatrist. No second opinion has been filed.
The Crown prosecutor was not at all convinced.
Me Bruno Ménard attacked the credibility of the accused, arguing that he offered divergent versions of the facts to the police, to the complainant, to the psychiatric expert and finally to the court.
He sought to downplay his drinking, the prosecutor pleaded, saying his condition was instead caused by fatigue. “He doesn’t want alcohol to be a big factor in the act. »
Why ? Because self-induced intoxication, including with alcohol, is not a valid defense to a charge of sexual assault.
Yannick Giguère told the expert psychiatrist that he was unable to walk or take public transport, noted Me Menard. “It’s very different from what he said in court, and it affects his credibility. »
He asked the judge to dismiss his defense
But in the event that the judge accepts it, the fate of Yannick Giguère should not be an acquittal, but rather a stay in a psychiatric hospital, suggested the crown prosecutor by inviting the magistrate to declare him not criminally responsible due to mental disorders.
He used the repetition of the sexsomnia events to flesh out his defense, Ms.e Ménard, but this repetition also demonstrates the risk it presents.
Judge Perreault will deliver his verdict at the beginning of January.