Hells Angel Paul Fontaine has been on trial for the 1997 murder of Pierre Rondeau and attempted murder of Robert Corriveau. Members of the jury began deliberating last Tuesday, but their deliberations were put on hold while judge Marc David considered motions put for the by Fontaine’s lawyer to have the case ruled a mistrial.Carole Beaucage, lawyer for Fontaine, filed a myriad of motions. The most prominent arguments made were: the crown repeatedly sent incomplete evidence in an untimely fashion; Fontaine’s efforts to get a lawyer of his choice were blocked; and most seriously, the latest incident where two jurors were caught playing detective outside of jury deliberations (the two scrambled onto the bumper and hood of a prison bus trying to recreate the shooting ambush of prison guards Pierre Rondeau and Richard Corriveau). Beaucage says that action risked contaminating the jury.Regardless, judge Marc David ruled that the defense failed to prove there was a real danger of prejudice against Fontaine or a risk of judicial error. He also called some of the defense’s arguments unfounded or speculation, and others coming too late at this point in the trial.
Deliberations resumed on Saturday and by Sunday the jury had come back with a guilty verdict. You will recall that on Sept. 8, 1997, Rondeau and Corriveau’s van was sprayed with bullets as they stopped on their daily route to a Montreal detention centre to collect prisoners. Former Hells Angel leader Mourice “Mom” Boucher as an attempt to destabilize the justice system and intimidate informants supposedly masterminded the attack.
The Crown’s primary witness in the trial was Hells Angels informant Stephane Gagne, who was with Fontaine when the crime was committed.
It’s now up to Quebec Superior Court Judge Marc David to decide Fontaine’s sentence.
