Jury sequestered in Accurso’s Laval collusion trial
The jury in Antonio Accurso’s second trial, on charges alleging he took part in a system of collusion when the city of Laval awarded contracts before they were put to tender, is now sequestered.
The five men and seven women, who have heard evidence since early May, began their deliberations Tuesday afternoon after receiving instructions from Superior Court Justice James Brunton, the presiding judge in the trial.
Accurso’s first trial on the same five charges ended in a mistrial in November after a member of a different jury — referred in court only as juror No. 6 — revealed that she had discussed the trial with the uncle of her partner while it was ongoing. She also revealed she had shared what her partner’s uncle told her with two other members of the jury despite having received clear instructions not to do such a thing when the first trial began.
Juror No. 6 told Brunton that her partner’s uncle knew Marc Gendron, a key witness at both trials, and that he told her he had recalled seeing Gendron handling large amounts of cash inside a conference room at his office. Gendron was one of the people who collected money from companies who paid kickbacks to Laval officials like former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt to be part of the system of collusion. The system ran from 1996 to 2010 and involved several construction and engineering firms.
“He said it was big what had happened in Laval. He said it was like a Mafia that was running this,” juror No. 6 told Brunton back in November when she was asked what her partner’s uncle told her.
When it became clear the jury was probably tainted, Brunton declared a mistrial. Crown prosecutor Richard Rougeau was minutes away from completing his closing arguments when it happened.
The mistrial was the subject of a pretrial hearing, held on April 27, after Accurso’s lawyer, Marc Labelle, learned that Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) conducted an investigation into what happened with the jury.
In April, Labelle filed two motions asking that any evidence gathered during the investigation of what happened to the jury be turned over to Accurso and that a stay of proceedings be placed on the charges in the current trial. Brunton rejected both motions on the same day he heard arguments. Everything that was said during the hearing was placed under a publication ban at the time because Accurso’s second trial was about to begin.
The motion seeking a stay of proceedings alleged the state acted in a way that was “abusive and illegal” by questioning members of the first jury. A jury’s deliberations in Canada are secret and it is illegal for members of such a panel to discuss anything that was said during it with the outside world.
According to details contained in both of Labelle’s motions, he received confirmation that members of the jury were investigated on March 23. A prosecutor confirmed there was a probe but refused to divulge any of the evidence gathered during it.
Five days later, Labelle was provided with an outline of the investigation, including that it was conducted in November and December.
Labelle argued in the motion that he only received bits and pieces of information but that three jurors — Nos. 1, 6 and 7 — were questioned.
“A reading of what was partially divulged allows one to conclude that the prosecution (obtained) the opinions of jurors 1, 6 and 7 on the performance of their prosecutors and (Accurso’s) lawyer (during the first trial) and possibly the witnesses who testified,” Labelle wrote in his motion while arguing that, if true, the opinions would give the prosecution an advantage in preparing for the second trial.
No criminal charges have been filed against any members of the jury that heard the first trial.
Accurso, 66, faces five criminal charges in all, including conspiracy, fraud and breach of trust. The conspiracy charge alleges he was part of a plot that involves dozens of people, including Vaillancourt, 77, the city’s former director general, Claude Asselin, 74, and its former head of engineering, Claude Deguise, 61.
All three men pleaded guilty to charges filed as part of the same investigation dubbed Project Honorer. Vaillancourt received a six-year prison term, Deguise was sentenced to 30 months and Asselin was sentenced to serve two years less one day.
Giuseppe (Joe) Molluso, 74, the former head of the Accurso-owned construction company Louisbourg Construction, was sentenced in September to a prison term of two years less one day that he is able to serve in the community. During the trial, Louisbourg Construction was alleged to be one of the biggest contributors to the kickbacks payments. While testifying in his defence, Accurso said he was unaware that his companies were part of the collusion scheme.