The sexual assault trial of former Parti Quebecois MNA Harold LeBel came to an unexpected end on Monday as the jury was about to hear the instructions of Judge Serge Francoeur.

The complainant, in a rare reopening of the investigation, was called back to court in light of new facts that came to the attention of the defence lawyer, Maxime Roy, last Thursday.

The woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, admitted to having agreed to participate in a documentary on the judicial process prepared by two journalists from Quebecor's investigative unit.

She began by recalling, as she had said in her initial testimony, that the reason she had only filed a complaint in 2020 for events that occurred in 2017 was mainly related to the fact that she was afraid that her family, her friends, and her loved ones would find out about it.

She said that it was after meetings where it was explained to her that her identity would be protected by the law that she finally went ahead. However, when LeBel was arrested in December 2020, some information a journalist posted on social media in the following hours led to deducing her identity, details which were widely reported by the media and one commentator even named her.

"It's been the worst day of my life," she said, wondering if anyone in a position of authority would intervene to ensure that the law was followed and to advise the media to stop publishing the details.

Of course, her family was soon informed, including her grandmother, who called to check on her.

"I have never cried so much in my life," she said.

She went on to explain that she had been convinced by the serious demeanour of the journalists who had approached her, even considering testifying openly in the documentary. Her aim was to help demystify the justice system, to tell the story of the process and how she herself experienced it.

"I wanted to turn these two traumatic events (the assault itself and the revelations surrounding my identity three years later) into something positive," she said.

When Roy asked her why she had not spoken about it, she simply replied that she had not been asked about it and that she felt that "it was not relevant to the facts of the case itself."

This surprise event came as everything was in place for the final step before the jury retired to deliberate at the Rimouski courthouse, namely Francoeur's instructions, when the defence asked for the inquiry to be reopened in order to present new facts.

The defence then had to add this element to its case before the judge gave his instructions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on French on Nov. 21, 2022.