Carl Girouard’s defense hopes to obtain a new trial, believing that the jury was improperly influenced during his first appearance in court where he was found guilty of the murders of François Duchesne and Suzanne Clermont on Halloween night 2020.
Even before Girouard was sentenced to life in prison in June 2022, defense lawyer Pierre Gagnon had stressed that he would contest the guilty verdict for the premeditated murders.
He particularly criticizes the trial judge, Richard Grenier, for having failed to present a directive that he intended to make regarding the absence of a conclusion that must be drawn from the use of an accused’s right to silence.
Pierre Gagnon, lawyer for Carl Girouard.
Photo d’archives
However, a sequence of Girouard’s arrival at the police station was presented to the Court where we see him mention to a police officer who asks him to identify himself: “You told me that I had the right to keep silence.”
“This part of the questioning will be raised before the jury to counter the defense theory regarding the mental state of the appellant. […] It is not because he reacts to instructions that he is not suffering from mental illness,” argued Mr.e Gagnon before the Court of Appeal, Tuesday morning.
The Court of Appeal will take its decision under advisement.
More information to come…
Do you have any information to share with us about this story?
Write to us at or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.
