Negotiating murder

>> Plea bargains leave dead girl’s father
bitter and angry

by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

Photo by Jason Felker

Denis Gagnon maintains a shrine in his home to his 15-year-old daughter Chrystelle Lavigne-Gagnon, who was murdered in August 2000 while walking to the Récréathèque roller rink in Laval. But even as the alleged killer awaits a date before a judge, her father is already worrying that he will get off too lightly.

The accused, Richard Germain, was 20 years old in March 2000 when he started dating Lavigne-Gagnon. She broke up with him after a month and soon Germain was threatening her by phone, through friends and in menacing graffiti he wrote in four Laval parks. On July 26, 2000, Germain was brought to court where a judge put him on probation. But at 7 p.m. on August 8, Germain allegedly stabbed Lavigne-Gagnon 16 times at the corner of boulevards Curé Labelle and St-Martin.

In spite of Germain’s established history of threats and violence, the victim’s father says he has learned that the Crown prosecutor plans to try Germain with second degree, or non-premeditated, murder. “Germain carried two knives with him, made death threats against her in front of witnesses, wrote death threats in parks and yet, for the Crown prosecutor, that doesn’t prove premeditation at the moment of the crime,” says Gagnon. “It makes no sense.”

Under Canadian law, those convicted of first-degree murder serve 25 years in prison with no chance of parole. But somebody convicted of second-degree murder can apply for early release after 10 years, although in exceptionally brutal second-degree cases, a judge can delay parole eligibility for up to 25 years.

Gagnon suspects that Germain was charged with the lesser crime in exchange for a guilty plea, which would make a trial unnecessary. The Crown prosecutor in charge of the case, Jocelyne Rancourt, and an official from the Quebec Justice Ministry refused to comment on the Germain prosecution, or even reveal what charges Germain will face.

But experts say prosecutors frequently lower sentences in order to avoid going to trial. “If everybody pleaded not guilty, there would be incredible delays in the court system,” says Jean Trépanier, a criminologist at the Université de Montréal. “It would lead to years of waiting for cases to come to trial. The justice system here and others around the world can only function when a good number of accused plead guilty.

“Plea bargaining leads to shorter sentences and is the kind of thing that not everybody favours. But criminal justice is a thing that works with compromises.”

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in the 1991 Stinchcombe case, prosecutors must display their evidence to defence attorneys, a process Trépanier says can lead to backroom deals. “For sure when two lawyers discuss the contents of the evidence, that can encourage the tendency to plea bargaining.”

Arlène Gaudreault, a representative from crime victims’ advocacy group Plaidoyer Victimes, says such deals have led to a proliferation of unhappy people like Denis Gagnon. “Those close to the victims are very mad because of all the suffering they’ve gone through. They’re still in mourning. They’ve gone through something unacceptable, suffered something irreparable. They lost somebody, and they see that the justice system seems to works without considering their feelings and opinions,” she says. “It’s not a situation that’s easy to accept and it often provokes a lot of anger. There’s a lot of dissatisfaction out there right now towards the justice system.” :