Accused Richard Bain says he has no memory of election-night shooting
Defence lawyer argues his client is not criminally responsible because of mental disorder
Richard Bain, dressed in a suit and tie, told the jury on Monday that he has no memory of the deadly shooting for which he stands accused of first-degree murder.
That claim came towards the end of Bain's first day on the stand, testimony his lawyer hopes will help prove he should not be held criminally responsible for the death of a lighting technician on the night of the 2012 provincial election.
Over the course of several hours, Bain explained that in the years leading up to the shooting he'd been taking anti-depressant medication that made it difficult for him to tell right from wrong.
Bain began taking Cymbalta, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, after falling into what he called "a big depression." He described the drug as giving him a massive boost of energy. He said he had enough "energy to sell."
But Bain also told the court the drug affected his behaviour and his moral compass.
"It gives you the energy to do what you want to do, right or wrong," he told the jury.
"Things come into my mind, and yah you do it ... it makes you not responsible."
Bain is accused of shooting and killing Denis Blanchette outside Montreal's Metropolis concert hall, where the Parti Québ écois was celebrating its 2012 election victory.
He also faces three counts of attempted murder, an arson charge and possession of an incendiary device. He has pleaded not guilty.
Bain re-watches TV footage
Before inviting Bain to take the stand on Monday, defence lawyer Alan Guttman told the jury: "I'm sure you can all guess that our defence is going to be one of criminally not responsible."
In order to secure a not criminally responsible (NCR) defence, Guttman will be referring to Section 16 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which states "no person is criminally responsible for an act committed ... while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act" or of "knowing that it was wrong."
TV footage from the night of the shooting shows Bain wearing a bathrobe, being led away by police as he yells "the English are waking up!" in French.
Bain re-watched the footage on Monday, and admitted it was him in the bathrobe, but said he had no memory of the incident.
"It's not the person that I know," he told the jury.
"It's totally out of character," he said, adding that he spent his whole life helping other people.
'Wine, champagne, strippers'
Bain began his testimony on Monday morning by swearing on his own copy of the Bible.
He then proceeded to outline how he'd been "married" to his job at a factory in east-end Montreal, but said he struggled with depression and anxiety.
He told the jury that after taking the anti-depressant Cymbalta he broke up with his girlfriend of 20 years.
He started going to strip clubs almost every night, running up bar tabs that reached as high as $800.
"The best of wine, champagne, strippers," Bain told the jury.
Bain also believed that the H1N1 virus would one day mutate, causing civil order to disintegrate.
As a result he stockpiled Cymbalta, along with guns, ammunition and food at his remote fishing lodge in La Conception, Que.
Even though his doctor later prescribed new medication, Bain said he went back to taking Cymbalta.
In the months before the fall 2012 provincial election, Bain said that business was so busy at his fishing lodge that he stopped going to nightclubs.
No memory of returning to the Metropolis
The jury has already heard that the afternoon before the shooting, Bain visited his sister-in-law at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
Bain provided more details of that visit on Monday.
His sister-in-law had been waiting in hospital for a hysterectomy, Bain testified, but it kept getting postponed and she was suffering.
Though he was initially in a good mood on the day of the shooting, Bain testified that after he saw his sick sister-in-law, depression came over "like a wave."
He told the jury that he remembers leaving the hospital, taking two doses of an anti-depressant, then driving around the Metropolis three times.
He told the jury he took six more doses of his medication while circling the Metropolis.
After that, though, Bain said there are holes in his memory.
He said he must've driven back to his cabin in La Conception to get his firearms. But he also said he can't recall going back home and has no memory of returning to the Metropolis later that night.
Bain will be back on the stand tomorrow.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
