After six nights in jail former Quebec lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault has been granted bail while she appeals her conviction for fraud and breach of trust. 

Last week Thibault was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and was ordered to repay $300,000 of the $700,000 she unlawfully claimed as expenses.

Her lawyer, Marc Labelle, immediately appealed the conviction and sentence, but a bail hearing was postponed a week while the Crown prepared its case to keep her behind bars.

"What we did today is we pleaded that there were some mistakes in the initial judgment and we were of the opinion that these mistakes were important enough to be granted permission to plead them in front of a bench of three judges," said Labelle.

On Tuesday afternoon the judge ruled Thibault could appeal the decision, and should be free on $5,000 bail pending the new trial.  

After six nights in jail, the 76-year-old woman appeared weak and distraught.

Once confident and eager to defend herself, on Tuesday, Thibault ignored questions about what it's been like behind bars.

“She's doing fine, but she's being held in an old jail and it causes some problems for day-to-day care,” said Labelle, adding that it’s no place for his client who is 76, uses a wheelchair and suffers from panic attacks.

Labelle argued the sentence is too severe, handed down to make an example out of a public figure.

“We tried to convince the judge this morning that the sentencing judge put too much emphasis on the exemplarity,” he said.

The judge ruled her case will be heard by the court of appeal and released her on $5,000 bail.

“It's a blow to the Crown, seeking a four-year sentence for what the trial judge called a ‘culture of deceit,’” said Crown prosecutor Marcel Guimont.

In her decade as the Queen’s representative in Quebec, Thibault spent $700,000 on meals and parties for her family, even golf lessons.

It’s an embarrassment that's turned her into a recluse – a prisoner in her home for years now, said her lawyer.

The defence plans to argue a sentence served in the community, in other words her home, is punishment enough, along with the $300,000 Thibault must repay.