Bilingual jury chosen, ready to hear opening statements in Lac-Mégantic trial
Alison Brunette | CBC News | Posted: September 30, 2017 12:04 AM | Last Updated: September 30, 2017
Judge, lawyers have chosen the 14 jurors in trial of three men accused of criminal negligence in the crash
Ten men and four women will decide the fates of the three men charged in connection with the Lac-Mégantic train disaster early on the morning of July 6, 2013.
After weeks of granting exemptions and vetting the language skills of more than 1,000 people in the Eastern Townships, Superior Court Justice Gaétan Dumas, along with the Crown and defence teams have chosen the 14 people who will make up the jury for the trial of the three men accused in connection with the train explosion that killed 47 people.
Only 12 of those jurors will be present for final deliberations.
The final pool of potential jurors was whittled down over the course of three weeks, based largely on the ability of each to understand English and French.
Determining impartiality of jurors
On Friday, 120 people were called to the bench, several admitting they'd already made up their minds as to the guilt or innocence of the three men charged.
One woman said she didn't know if she could make an impartial decision, saying, ''I have a lot of empathy for these people,'' and wished them good luck with the trial before leaving the courtroom.
All three of the men charged are former employees of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) Railway.
They are 56-year-old Thomas Harding, former train engineer and conductor, 59-year-old railway controller Richard Labrie, and operations manager Jean Demaître, 53.
The men have each been charged with criminal negligence causing 47 deaths.
Thomas Walsh, Harding's defence lawyer, says he's very happy with the jury.
''We weren't looking for any type of person in particular, we were just looking for people that had a nice open, intelligent face, and I think we got 14 of them so we're very happy," he said.
The prosecution will make its opening statements and present its first four witnesses on Monday.
The trial is scheduled to last until Dec. 21.
Corrections:- A previous version of this story reported the three defendants are charged with 47 counts each of criminal negligence causing death — one count for each person who died in the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster. In fact, prior to the trial, the Crown simplified the charge to a single count each of criminal negligence causing 47 deaths. The change has no bearing on the criteria used by the jury to render its verdict or on the possible sentence. January 15, 2018 10:29 PM