Cops accused Richard Bain of faking health issues during interrogation
Bain testifies it's a 'load of BS' to suggest he faked passing out during police interrogation
Over the course of his four-hour interrogation, Richard Bain first ducked police questions, then cried out for an ambulance, before finally collapsing to the floor.
The detective present remained unmoved: "Stop faking," he tells Bain.
Video of the interrogation, which took place two days after the deadly 2012 election-night shooting, was played Wednesday for the jury in Bain's first-degree murder trial.
After the video ended, Bain told the court he had "sorrow ... for all of the victims."
But he also told the jury he believes police went too far in the interrogation.
"I felt my constitutional right to silence had not been respected," he testified.
Bain is accused of first-degree murder for the death of Denis Blanchette, who was shot and killed outside the Parti Québécois' victory party on Sept. 4, 2012. His lawyer is arguing he's not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder.
- CBC's complete coverage of the Richard Bain murder trial
- What we know so far about Quebec's deadly election-night shooting
During the interrogation, Sgt-Det. Daniel Prieur questions Bain about his motives, asking if he was trying to defend the rights of anglophones, or if it was just a random attack.
In the video, Bain says several times that he wishes to exercise his right to remain silent.
"I won't say anything else. Not a word. You have to understand where I'm coming from. It's finished. I'm sorry. I'm sorry if this seems disrespectful," Bain says to the detective.
'Call an ambulance! My chest!'
But Prieur presses on, asking Bain how he's supposed to explain to the family of the victim, and his four-year-old daughter, that Blanchette died for no reason.
Eventually, Bain, with his head on the table, starts to cry out.
"Ow, Ow! ... Call an ambulance," he shouts through sobbing. "Call an ambulance! My chest!"
Prieur answers, "Richard, calm down. It's over."
He reminds Bain that he was just released from the Royal Victoria Hospital that morning, with a clean bill of health.
Bain's first interrogation with police, which took place the morning after the shooting, ended when he was taken away in an ambulance after complaining of pain.
"Your heart was checked yesterday," Prieur says to Bain in the second interrogation. "Everything was ok."
The detective eventually leaves, and Bain slowly tumbles to the floor of the interrogation room.
'Stop faking'
Another police officer enters the room and tells Bain to get up.
"You can stop faking. It's over," the officer says to a silent Bain.
After a lot of coaxing from police, Bain eventually gets up off the floor and walks out of the room unaided.
When the video ended, defence lawyer Alan Guttman asked Bain what he thought of the police officer's suggestion that he was faking it.
Bain testified that it was a "load of BS."
He told the jury that he was on the ground in the fetal position because he passed out from severe stress.
The judge has instructed the jury that anything said by police during the interrogation is not to be considered as evidence.
The trial is expected to last until the end of July.
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