STORY: "Ex-judge Jacques Delisle, convicted of murder, seeks bail in 'very rare' hearing," by Loreen Pindera and Julia Page, published By CBC News on October 18, 2016.
SUB-HEADING: "'He didn't hurt her,' son says of his father, first judge in Canadian history to go to prison for murder."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Jacques Delisle, now 81, was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of murdering his wife in 2012."
GIST: "Dressed in a white dress shirt and blue suit jacket, the 81-year-old arrived at the court room in shackles, which were quickly removed by a corrections officer. Delisle, convicted in the 2009 death of his wife, Nicole Rainville, filed an application for bail in Quebec Superior Court last month. Justice Benoit Moulin has set aside two days for the hearing. Jacques Delisle's son, Jean Delisle, agreed to guarantee his father's bail and conditions if he is released, pending a ministerial review of his case. "If I had one-sixteenth of a doubt, I wouldn't be here. We've supported him from the beginning and will until the end," he told the court, after touching his father's hand through the glass of the prisoner's box. "He didn't hurt her. We believe in him."........."Delisle's lawyer, James Lockyer, has said he will base his arguments for his release on new ballistic evidence that has been submitted to the federal Minister of Justice. Such a hearing is "very rare," said Quebec City criminal lawyer Alain Dumas, who told CBC's French-language service, Radio-Canada, that in 40 years of practice, he'd never seen anything like it. "I think that the new evidence to be produced in this file will weigh very heavily in the judge's ruling," Dumas said, adding, "It will have to be rather solid." Since his conviction in 2012, the former judge has continued to insist on his innocence. In a joint investigation by the fifth estate and Enquête last year, three independent forensic experts reviewed the evidence in Delisle's case and concluded it pointed to suicide, not murder — corroborating Delisle's confession that, while he did not murder his wife, he did supply her with the gun that she used to kill herself. One of those experts, Dr. Michael Shkrum, a pathologist based in London, Ont., is to be called on to testify. Shkrum contends that a micro-fracture on the right side of Rainville's skull demonstrates the bullet had to have entered from that direction, contradicting evidence presented by the Crown at Delisle's trial. The Crown, which is opposing Delisle's release, plans to call as a witness the same pathologist who testified at the 2012 trial. Dr. André Bourgault maintains that the bullet lodged directly at the back of Rainville's skull.........Delisle has already exhausted all legal avenues. However, in Canada, convicted prisoners who have lost all appeals are allowed to ask the government to reopen the case by making a direct appeal to the federal justice minister. The entire story can be found at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/jacques-delisle-bail-hearing-1.3808695 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/ Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. . |
