A major part of the case revolved around the angle of entry of the bullet, which could confirm or rule out the suicide theory. Questions surrounding the reliability of this forensic evidence led to a new trial being ordered in 2021. During the autopsy, a pathologist failed to photograph the brain or take samples that would have shown traces of the bullet that killed Rainville. Delisle's lawyers argued this evidence would have allowed them to prove their suicide theory."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: The Court of Appeal found that “the state violated Delisle’s right to make full answer and defence by reason of unacceptable negligence," but it concluded that was not enough to justify a stay of proceedings. “Indeed, despite the flaws in the autopsy file, the experts demonstrate that it is possible to present, regarding the trajectory of the bullet, convincing evidence contrary to that of the pathologist who carried out the initial autopsy," the high court noted. "The damage is therefore not irremediable."
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Delisle, who sat on the Quebec Court of Appeal before his retirement, was found guilty in 2012 of the first-degree murder of Rainville and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. His initial appeal was dismissed in 2013, and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his case. He spent nine years behind bars before being freed in 2021 when the federal justice minister at the time, David Lametti, ordered a new trial after reviewing evidence that was not previously before the courts and concluding a miscarriage of justice had likely occurred Delisle maintained that he found his wife dead when he walked into the condo they shared in Quebec City on Nov. 12, 2009. She was lying on a sofa, a .22-calibre pistol at her side and a bullet wound in her head. He called 911, telling the operator that his wife had killed herself. Rainville had been paralyzed on one side by a stroke in 2007 and was recovering from a broken hip suffered a few months before she died. Delisle's version of events stated that his wife was depressed and took her own life using the gun that was found by her body. The former judge didn't testify at his trial, but in 2015, he admitted in an interview with Radio-Canada that he had helped his wife kill herself by leaving a loaded gun in the home."
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STORY: "Ex-judge Jacques Delisle will face a second trial for murder," by Canadian Press Reporter Sidhartha Banerjee, published by The Toronto Star, on September 8, 2023.
GIST: MONTREAL: "Quebec's Court of Appeal has overturned a stay of proceedings granted to a retired Quebec judge whose 2012 conviction for fatally shooting his wife was reversed by the federal justice minister.
The province's highest court has ruled that the case against Jacques Delisle, 88, should return before the Quebec Superior Court, where he was facing a new murder trial.
Delisle's lawyers had argued successfully before Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-François Émond in April 2022 that a retrial would be impossible because of serious errors in a Crown expert's pathology report and unreasonable delays in the case.
But in a unanimous ruling Wednesday, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel agreed with the Crown that the trial judge erred in granting a stay.
Delisle has always maintained his innocence and said his wife, Marie Nicole Rainville, took her own life in 2009. The Crown argued that Delisle killed her to avoid a costly divorce and that he had wanted to move in with his former secretary, with whom he was having an affair.
A major part of the case revolved around the angle of entry of the bullet, which could confirm or rule out the suicide theory. Questions surrounding the reliability of this forensic evidence led to a new trial being ordered in 2021.
During the autopsy, a pathologist failed to photograph the brain or take samples that would have shown traces of the bullet that killed Rainville. Delisle's lawyers argued this evidence would have allowed them to prove their suicide theory.
The Court of Appeal found that “the state violated Delisle’s right to make full answer and defence by reason of unacceptable negligence," but it concluded that was not enough to justify a stay of proceedings.
“Indeed, despite the flaws in the autopsy file, the experts demonstrate that it is possible to present, regarding the trajectory of the bullet, convincing evidence contrary to that of the pathologist who carried out the initial autopsy," the high court noted. "The damage is therefore not irremediable."
The Appeal Court ruling suggests a directive about the loss of evidence to the jury hearing a future trial, but adds it "prefers to let the judge and the parties determine the appropriate remedy."
For its part, the Crown has argued that regardless of the trajectory of the bullet, a conviction remains possible given the entirety of the evidence against the former magistrate.
Delisle, who sat on the Quebec Court of Appeal before his retirement, was found guilty in 2012 of the first-degree murder of Rainville and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. His initial appeal was dismissed in 2013, and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his case.
He spent nine years behind bars before being freed in 2021 when the federal justice minister at the time, David Lametti, ordered a new trial after reviewing evidence that was not previously before the courts and concluding a miscarriage of justice had likely occurred.
Delisle maintained that he found his wife dead when he walked into the condo they shared in Quebec City on Nov. 12, 2009. She was lying on a sofa, a .22-calibre pistol at her side and a bullet wound in her head. He called 911, telling the operator that his wife had killed herself.
Rainville had been paralyzed on one side by a stroke in 2007 and was recovering from a broken hip suffered a few months before she died. Delisle's version of events stated that his wife was depressed and took her own life using the gun that was found by her body.
The former judge didn't testify at his trial, but in 2015, he admitted in an interview with Radio-Canada that he had helped his wife kill herself by leaving a loaded gun in the home.
Lawyers involved in the case declined to comment on Wednesday."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/
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