Tony Accurso's lawyer has told a jury not to believe the witnesses who testified about the construction magnate's role in a multi-million kickback scheme in Laval.
In his closing arguments, Marc Labelle said that many of the Crown witnesses who testified against Accurso had been convicted of taking part in the scheme, or made deals for immunity in exchange for their testimony, and so had reason to be disbelieved.
Accurso's lawyer deconstructed the credibility of everyone who testified in front of the jury, suggesting their criminal past should be enough to discredit them, or at least create doubt in the jury's mind.
When the criminal case first began, Accurso was one of 36 men arrested. Most pleaded guilty, three men died in the interim, and several men had the cases against them thrown out due to unreasonable delays. Accurso was the only one to challenge the charges in court.
Labelle also reiterated to the jury Accurso's main defence: that despite meeting several times with former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt to discuss projects, Accurso was not involved in the day-to-day operations of his many companies, and instead focused on international contracts and other affairs.
Labelle said that Accurso did not know of the kickbacks going to Vaillancourt in exchange for rigging contracts, and said all that was handled by the presidents of Louisbourg and Simard-Beaudry.
The scheme went on for 14 years, between 1996 and 2010, and most of the co-accused pleaded guilty.
The next step in the case will be the Crown making its final arguments.
Judge James Brunton told jurors to bring bags to court next week, because he will give them their final instructions on Wednesday, at which point they will be sequestered until they reach a verdict.
