Why is the jury taking so long in the Quebec election-night murder trial?
The jury is entering its 8th day of deliberations as it weighs the fate of Richard Bain
Richard Bain's murder trial has already seen multiple delays and setbacks, and now that it's in the homestretch, it's easy to be impatient for the jury's final word.
The Crown has argued Bain is guilty of first-degree murder, while the defence team contends he was suffering from a psychotic delusion and should not be held criminally responsible for his actions.
Members of the public who've been following from afar might be wondering what's taking so long, but the jury's task is a difficult one, says criminal lawyer and Université du Québec à Montréal law professor Jean-Claude Hébert.
"It's normal. There are so many options on the table ... they can't forget anything."
There's much more to the evidence than the highlight reel that's been broadcast in the media — the infamous video of Bain being arrested moments after the shooting and the dramatic eyewitness testimony.
The jury, made up of seven women and five men, has to weigh 32 days of testimony from 56 different witnesses, as well as two lengthy reports from psychiatrists who disagree on Bain's mental state on the night of the shooting.
Plus, the 12 complete strangers will have to be unanimous in their decision in order to deliver a verdict.
In court on Friday, Justice Guy Cournoyer said the length of deliberations is by no means abnormal for a case where the defence is arguing that its client is not criminally responsible, or NCR.
"It's quite within the realm of what our jurisdiction had in other NCR cases," he said.
It took eight days for a jury to find Luka Magnotta guilty of first-degree murder for slaying Jun Lin, and seven days for a jury to find Quebec cardiologist Guy Turcotte guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of his two children.
Just a couple years ago, a jury at the Montreal courthouse took 18 days to find Evgueni Mataev guilty of assault and pimping in 2014.
So at this point, at least, the jury in the Richard Bain trial is nowhere near breaking a record.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
