Former Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Jacques Delisle, after a 15-year judicial saga, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife.
"Delisle wants everything to end today," said his lawyer, Jacques Larochelle, adding that while they agreed to the plea, parties disagreed on the facts, as the crown maintained that Delisle took an active part in the death of his wife.
In 2012, Delisle was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, 71-year-old Marie Nicole Rainville, who died in 2009.
But Delisle, after spending nearly a decade in prison, was awarded another trial when then federal Justice Minister, David Lametti, said that a "miscarriage of justice likely occurred" in part because one of the Crown's experts made serious mistakes in the original pathology report that led to Delisle's conviction.
In April 2022, the Superior Court ordered a halt to the judicial process because of the "serious negligence" of the Crown pathologist. But in 2023, the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial.
The Supreme Court was expected to announce today its decision on whether it was going to hear the case, but withdrew following a discontinuance notice filed by Delisle.
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A legislative provision in the Act respecting the Quebec Pension Plan that financially penalizes disability claimants at age 65 will be "completely eliminated," announced the provincial government in its 2024–2025 budget unveiled this week.
The Administrative Tribunal of Quebec concluded, in a decision lauded by human rights advocates, that the pension provision was unconstitutional because it infringed the right to equality under the Canadian Charter.
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