Lac-Mégantic jury denied dictionary

A Quebec judge told the jurors at the Lac-Megantic trial Monday to take all the time they need to reach a verdict for three former railway employees accused in the tragedy that killed 47 people.

Earlier in the day, the jury — which began deliberating last Thursday — sent Quebec Superior Court Justice Gaetan Dumas an envelope, sparking excitement at the courthouse in Sherbrooke about a possible verdict.

But jurors instead asked Dumas for a dictionary and for clarification on judicial matters such as the concept of “reasonable doubt.”

It was the first time jurors had emerged since being sequestered.

They must decide the fate of Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaître. The three are charged with criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people after an oilladen runaway train derailed and exploded in the small town on July 6, 2013.

Harding was the train’s engineer, Labrie the traffic controller and Demaître the manager of train operations at the time of the disaster.

Dumas rejected the request for a dictionary, telling the eight men and four women the only evidence they could use had to have been presented in the courtroom.

All three accused can be found guilty of criminal negligence causing 47 deaths, while jurors have the option of convicting Harding on one of two other charges: dangerous operation of railway equipment or dangerous operation of railway equipment causing death.