Former PQ MNA Harold LeBell Sexual Assault Trial Underway in Limosky

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A jury will begin hearing evidence Tuesday in the trial of Harold Lebel, a former politician who was accused of sexually assaulting him while sitting as a member of the Quebec legislature.

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The trial began on Monday with jury selection at the Rimosky court. It took Quebec High Court Judge Serge Franccourt just a few hours to select his 14-member jury, and the judge said the trial was expected to take two to three weeks to complete. he told potential jurors.

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The alleged crime occurred in Rimouski on October 21, 2017. Her LeBel, 60, was indicted near the end of 2020. He filed a plea of ​​not guilty before jury selection began.

Franccourt told jurors that, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility that some jurors might fall ill before the trial is over, the standard 12-man Instead, 14 people were selected.

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The judge imposed a series of bans on the trial, including one to protect the plaintiff’s identity and one to protect the jury’s identity.

Francoult asked the jury candidates several questions to determine if they were biased, including if they had heard anything about the case.

One person said he read a news story before the recent Quebec general election about why Lebel was not the candidate. “I’ve heard it in the media,” he said.

Most of the juror candidates said they could be fair during the trial despite having read, heard, or seen media coverage of the trial.

One of the candidates admitted to starting an investigation into the case after receiving a subpoena for jury duty, quickly realizing it was LeBel’s trial.

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“You are now the judge of fact in this case,” Franccourt told the jury after it was selected. Keep the information to yourself, really, it’s not the time to go to Facebook, Messenger, TikTok and say, “I’m a juror in a trial.” Now is really not the time. ”

One man was exonerated because he said he knew Lebel personally from occasional meetings in Rimouski.

The woman was exonerated after a judge asked whether she or someone close to her had been sexually assaulted. He told officials he was reluctant to hear a jury’s testimony in a sexual assault case.

Another woman was exonerated after she said she was “too nervous” to hear a sexual assault trial.

LeBel was elected to the National Assembly as a member of the Quebec Party in 2014 and won a second term in 2018. After being indicted, he sat as an independent his MNA.

pcherry@postmedia.com