Hearing begins to determine if Despres fit to continue in double-murder trial

Gregory Allan Despres will be back in court in Fredericton as a two-day hearing into his mental fitness to continue with his trial begins Tuesday.

Despres, 24,is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 2005 deaths of Minto couple Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie.

The hearing will focus on the results of psychiatric assessments ordered in February. Midway though the trial, Despres's lawyer stood up in court and told the judge he was concerned that his client was not mentally fit to stand trial.

When the judge asked Despres how he felt about his lawyer's concern, Despres launched into a 15-minute diatribe, and then accused his lawyer of working for al-Qaeda.

The judge ordered Despres to undergo a 60-day psychiatric assessment, a third assessment for him.On Tuesday morning, the court will hear the results of that evaluation and decide if the trial can go on.

St. Thomas University criminology professor Michael Boudreau said the burden is on the defence to show that Despres is not fit to go on with the trial.

"Can [the client] understand the actual proceedings, but in this case in particular, can they communicate with their lawyers, can they understand the gravity of the charges they are facing, that if they are found guilty that this result will occur?" Boudreau said, explaining the basic criteria a defendant must meet in order to be declared fit.

If the judge decides Despres is unfit, the trial would stop and Despres would be sent for more psychiatric care and a reassessment by a Board of Review.

However, Boudreau said a trialcan resume or start from square one ifa defendant'scompetency improves.

"If it's continued to be proven that they are unfit to stand trial, they may never stand trial, but at the same time, remain in a facility," Boudreau said.

The psychiatrists who assessed Despres before the trial, deeming him fit, are expected to testify, along with the psychiatrist who completed the latest assessment.

Meanwhile, it was two years ago Tuesday that Fulton and Decarie were brutallyslain in their Minto home.