Guy Turcotte, the cardiologist who killed his two children, will remain free pending his second trial after the Quebec Court of Appeals rejected a prosecution request made to keep him incarcerated.
Last September, Justice André Vincent of the Superior Court authorized the release of the former cardiologist, saying that Turcotte no longer represented a danger to himself, to his ex-wife and society in general .
The Crown was dissatisfied with the ruling and argued in its appeal that the decision could undermine public confidence in the justice system.
The Court of Appeal dismissed that claim Wednesday, as a panel of three judges found the original decision to allow Turcotte out to be well-founded, while it described the Crown’s request as “worthless.”
Turcotte was found not criminally responsible for the murder of his two children after a first trial. He was treated at the Philippe-Pinel Institute and later released.
He was imprisoned again when a second trial was ordered but was released temporarily in September.
