Man charged in killing wants statement tossed out
A man who has been assessed as having the intellectual capacity of a 10-year-old will learn later this year if a statement he gave to police following his arrest for the murder of his girlfriend is admissible in his trial.
Yves Nadeau, 59, has been on trial at the Montreal courthouse since April for the second-degree murder of 62-year-old Louise Girard. The Crown has yet to begin presenting its evidence because Superior Court Justice Mario Longpré must first determine if the things Nadeau said while he was interrogated by police, following his arrest in February 2014, can be used against him as evidence.
Girard was stabbed to death, and during the interrogation Nadeau insisted she had fallen and cut herself on a television inside the apartment they shared for eight years on Sherbrooke St. E., near Chambly St. in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
On April 30, after having heard evidence during a procedure referred to as a voir dire, Longpré ordered that Nadeau undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
On Monday, the judge was presented with a report declaring that Nadeau is fit to stand trial even though France Proulx, the psychiatrist who evaluated him, agrees that “his difficulties are mainly in connection with an intellectual deficiency.”
“Mr. Yves Nadeau understands that he is accused of the murder of his partner Louise. He considers these accusations unjustified. He has given his version of events, which match completely those that he offered to (Proulx) when he was evaluated in May 2014,” Proulx wrote while noting the accused understands the difference between guilty and not guilty verdicts. “(Nadeau) is able to understand the role of a lawyer, of a prosecutor and a judge.”
Based on what was contained in Proulx’s evaluation, Michel Parisien, a psychologist who testified in April, was asked to return to court on Monday to see if Proulx’s recent evaluation changed the opinion he provided four months ago. In April, Parisien expressed doubt over whether Nadeau understands legal concepts. He wrote that he believes Nadeau only gives the appearance that he does.
Before he filed his report, Parisien watched a recording of the police interrogation and noted that at one point Nadeau appeared to believe he was being interviewed by a journalist instead of a homicide detective.
“Our observations leave us to conclude that Mr. Yves Nadeau, because of his intellectual deficiency, could not understand his fundamental rights after his arrest on Feb. 24, 2014,” Parisien wrote.
The psychologist also noted that Nadeau has difficulty following long sentences. Parisien also wrote that Nadeau initially lied to him when he was asked if he knew how to read.
Nadeau said he liked to read newspapers, but later admitted he would only look at the photos inside them and couldn’t even read the descriptions that described the images. Parisien agreed with the assessment made by a psychologist who examined the accused in 2014 and determined he had the IQ of someone who is around the age of 10.
On Monday, Parisien said Proulx’s evaluation did not change his opinion.
Longpré is scheduled to hear arguments on the voir dire on Friday. He informed both lawyers that he will probably end up deliberating on the issue and make a decision in October.