Quebec City sword attack suspect will go directly to trial
The alleged perpetrator of the sword attack in Quebec City is set to go directly to trial without a preliminary hearing in an effort to speed up the judicial process.
Carl Girouard will not be entitled to a preliminary inquiry and will return to court on Sept. 7.
Girouard, a 25-year-old from Sainte-Thérèse, a suburb of Montreal, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
On Halloween night, Oct. 31, an assailant armed with a Japanese sword and wearing a medieval costume attacked random passersby in Old Quebec.
The events shook the city and its mayor, Régis Labeaume, who noted that it was the second tragedy in the provincial capital since the mosque shooting in 2017 to make international headlines.
On Friday, the accused appeared briefly by videoconference from the Quebec City Detention Facility.
Dressed in a brightly coloured plaid shirt, he appeared before Quebec Court Judge Jean Asselin with short hair and a freshly shaved face.
Prosecutor François Godin filed a direct indictment, noting that the defence lawyer, Pierre Gagnon, had been notified in advance.
Godin did not explain the use of this procedure. Later, the spokesperson for the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), Audrey Roy Cloutier, explained that the public interest had to be taken into account.
"In addition to the reasonable prospect of conviction required to initiate a prosecution, the prosecutor (...) must first have determined that the public interest justifies the use of this procedure," she said.
"With all due respect to ongoing legal proceedings, and in order not to prejudice them, we cannot comment further at this time," she added.
The approach is not unlike how the case of the mosque shooter, Alexandre Bissonnette, unfolded. On Oct. 3, 2017, the team of prosecutors, which included Godin, had him go directly to trial without a preliminary hearing.
It was explained at the time to be a decision `long considered' and taken `in the public interest.' The question of time was also one of the factors considered.
On March 12, Godin indicated that the disclosure of evidence in Carl Girouard's file was complete.
In November, when many were commenting on the accused's mental health, he reminded them that Girouard was presumed mentally fit for trial until proven otherwise.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 18, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.