MONTREAL - The lawyer for former Judge Jacques Delisle, recently convicted of the premeditated murder of his wife, filed a motion Wednesday asking for his client's release pending appeal.
The request was argued before Judge Richard Wagner at the Montreal Court of Appeal. Delisle was a Quebec City Appeals Court judge.
Delisle’s lawyer Jacques Larochelle filed the appeal last week, arguing that the verdict is unreasonable and that his client should be acquitted.
Nicole Rainville died of a bullet to the head in November 2009, at home in Quebec.
The Crown argues that releasing Deslisle would undermine public confidence in the justice system, as the retired judge, now, 77, has been convicted of the most serious of crimes.
Jacques Delisle was found guilty by a jury last month of shooting Nicole Rainville to death in 2009.
The 77-year-old Delisle is believed to be the first Canadian judge to be convicted of first-degree murder.
Larochelle is arguing that Delisle is not a flight risk, is not a danger to reoffend, that he had a blemish-free past and that he took care of Rainville for years.
Delisle's trial heard that Rainville was suffering from partial paralysis and that the accused wanted to move in with his mistress.
- With files from The Canadian Press
