2nd juror in Bellefeuille trial dismissed after getting ride from OPP officer

A second juror has been dismissed from the trial of Alain Bellefeuille, this time to preserve public confidence in the justice system.

After much discussion in the courtroom in L'Orignal, Ont., Friday morning and early afternoon — the day Bellefeuille's cross-examination had been scheduled — Superior Court Justice Robert Pelletier called the jury in and told them one of their party was late Friday morning and couldn't be reached by phone.

Normally that wouldn't be grounds to dismiss a juror. But on this occasion, an Ontario Provincial Police officer ended up driving the juror to the courthouse in an effort to get proceedings underway as soon as possible.

As well-intentioned as the officer's actions were, Pelletier noted that this trial happens to centre on the alleged murder and attempted murder of three OPP officers.

"I can't imagine that the public would find that acceptable," he said of the ride.

No one to blame

The judge didn't think the juror was compromised by the trip in the cruiser, and he stressed that the juror, the OPP and courthouse administrative staff are not to be blamed. The difficulty, he said, was the optics of what had happened.

"Justice must be done, but justice must also be seen to be done," he told court.

Bellefeuille pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder at the outset of his bilingual trial in Superior Court east of Ottawa in March.

It's an admitted fact that Bellefeuille killed Mueller, critically wounded Const. Marc Lauzon and wounded Const. François Gamache-Asselin when he shot at them.

In question is what he was thinking and when he repeatedly fired his rifle, and what his intentions were.

Bellefeuille took the stand in his own defence on Thursday. His cross-examination by assistant Crown attorney François Dulude is now expected to begin Monday.