Justin Bourque, convicted of killing three RCMP officers in Moncton, N.B., in June 2014, has a new lawyer who is preparing to appeal the sentences, reports Radio-Canada.

Joëlle Roy, a criminal lawyer with Gagné & Roy in Saint-Jérôme, Que., declined to be interviewed by Radio-Canada, but confirmed she has met Bourque and is representing him.

She stated that an appeal is being prepared and that Bourque is in favour of it. Roy could not give an estimate on when the appeal would be filed, but suggested it would take a while.

Image | Justin Bourque

Caption: Justin Bourque's former Lawyer David Lutz believes Parliament would have to change the sentencing law before the killer would have any chance of winning an appeal. (CBC)

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Bourque was convicted of the June 2014 murder of Moncton RCMP constables David Ross, Fabrice Gevaudan and Douglas Larche and attempted murder of constables Darlene Goguen and Eric Dubois.

Bourque, who was 24 when the crimes were committed, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder at his trial. He was sentenced under a 2011 law that allows judges to impose consecutive 25-year parole ineligibility terms for those convicted of multiple murders.

Bourque will not be eligible for parole for 75 years. His sentence is one of the harshest ever handed down in Canada.

He claimed he was trying to spark a rebellion against the Canadian government by going after police officers.

David Lutz, the lawyer who represented Bourque at the trial, doubts a proposed appeal of his 75-year prison sentence will get very far.

"Unless the law is changed by Parliament, I do not expect any success in an appeal," Lutz told CBC News while travelling in Richmond, Va., on Friday.

Lutz was heavily criticized in February by prominent Quebec defence lawyer Jean-Claude Hébert for not fighting the case more aggressively, either by exploring Bourque's mental state at the time of the murders or challenging the constitutionality of the sentencing law.

Lutz said he was informed in writing shortly after Hébert's criticisms were published that Bourque had retained a new lawyer.

"I was contacted by a female lawyer about six months ago," he told CBC News. "She had a signed letter from Justin appointing her his lawyer. I have heard nothing since."