I am flabbergasted.
The continuation of the sex abuse trial of thrice-previously-convicted former Cornwall school teacher Marcel Lalonde is set for November of this year.
That’s correct. November. Nearly one full year after 12 December 2016, a date which marked Day One of the trial.
Unbelievable!!
Here, then, are the up-coming trial dates for Marcel Lalonde:
14 -17 November & 06 November 2017: 10 am, continuation of TRIAL which commenced 12 Dec. 2016, Cornwall, Ontario courthouse (29 Second St. W., )
I have no idea what happened during that one day, and one day only, of the trial to date. Did any witnesses take the stand to testify? I am inclined to think – perhaps, hope? – ‘no.’ I can not conceive a trial starting for one day, and one day only, only to be set aside for a full 11 months.
A reminder that these charges were laid back in February 2014. By the time it’s over nearly four full years will have passed.
Four years!!!
Surely there is a serious problem with a system which allows complainants to suffer through four long years of wondering when the case is finally going to get to trial?
These delays are no real problem for the accused, are they? I am sure, for example, that Marcel Lalonde is quite happy watching the clock tick tick ticking along, – hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. He’s not in jail, is he? As long as this revolving court room door keeps swinging around, he’s not in jail. Bail conditions aside, for now, he’s essentially ‘free’. However, after trial, IF convicted, he may well wind up in jail, ….and Marcel Lalonde knows what that’s like.
Why then would Lalonde want this to go to trial sooner than later? If there is any possibility of agony for him ahead (ie jail), why not delay its onset as long as is humanly possible?
A thought: Is Marcel Lalonde perhaps actually trying to run the clock down? Is he thinking in terms of setting up a scenario whereby he could claim that his Charter rights to a speedy trial have been violated? It’s happened in Canadian courts before. More than once. And, yes, alas, those familiar with Cornwall know it’s happened in Cornwall.
On that note I hope and pray that the Crown has ensured that there is no way on God’s green earth that Lalonde can “walk” citing claims that his Charter rights to a speedy trial have been violated. I trust that the Crown has ensured that defence has assured in writing that any delays initiated by or agreed to by defence will not become grounds for hearings for a stay of proceedings.
In closing, without doubt this has been not only a long but also very difficult, confusing and frustrating journey for the complainant. Please keep him in your prayers.
*****
The start time for recently convicted priest of the Archdiocese of Ottawa Father Jacques Faucher‘s breach court date is 09:30 am. Here are the details:
13 February 2017: 09:30 am, courtroom #5, Gatineau. Quebec (17 Rue Laurier)
By way of of interest, Faucher was charged under Section 145 (03) (a) of the Criminal Code of Canada. Here it is:
Failure to comply with condition of undertaking or recognizance
(3) Every person who is at large on an undertaking or recognizance given to or entered into before a justice or judge and is bound to comply with a condition of that undertaking or recognizance, and every person who is bound to comply with a direction under subsection 515(12) or 522(2.1) or an order under subsection 516(2), and who fails, without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on them, to comply with the condition, direction or order is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or
And, a reminder to all those with access to the Ottawa courthouse, Father Jacques Faucher ‘s next court appearance on the sex abuse convictions is tomorrow afternoon:
Wednesday, 25 January 2017: 2 pm, decision, Ottawa Ontario courthouse (161 Elgin St.
That means the judge will be rendering his decision as to sentencing. I encourage those who can do so to attend, both to hear the decision and to support the victims. (A reminder that the trial was conducted in French.)
Please keep the victims in your prayers.
[Yesterday I mentioned my difficulty getting information regarding start time on the breach charge. Today I discovered why. The phone number for the Gatineau court house actually connects to phone bank of sorts in Quebec City. The clerk who answered the phone had to call the Gatineau courthouse to get the information I sought and then relay it back to me. ]
*****
There is no change in the dates for the up-coming trial of Archdiocese of Ottawa priest Father Stephen Amesse. The trial is still scheduled to run for seven days:
06 – 14 March 2017: 10 am, TRIAL (booked for seven days) Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Ottawa courthouse (161 Elgin St.)
Please keep the complainant in your prayers.
*****
The next court date for previously convicted Viatorian priest and former teacher at the now defunct Cornwall Ontario Classical College Ronald Leger csv is:
07 February 2017: 1 pm (1300 hrs), courtroom #301: Winnipeg Provincial courthouse (Main Floor, 408 York Ave.)
Please keep the complainant in your prayers.
Enough for now,
Sylvia