Mosque attacker’s sentencing delayed

Superior Court Justice François Huot has given himself until the end of January to pass sentence on Alexandre Bissonnette, who pleaded guilty last March to six counts of first degree murder in the wake of an attack on a Quebec City mosque on Jan. 29, 2017.

Huot was supposed to pass sentence on the 28-year-old Bissonnette on Oct. 29. But he convened lawyers in the case to a Quebec City courtroom on Friday to tell them it would be impossible to meet that date because of certain doubts he encountered while researching his decision.

After saying he spent more than three months examining the “titanic” documentation in the case, Huot said “two questions were raised,” on issues that were insufficiently explored.

The judge said that “in fairness to all parties,” he would require the lawyers to do some extra work and convened them to return to court on Nov. 21 to hear their arguments.

Since the Criminal Code was amended in 2011 to allow a judge to impose consecutive sentences in cases of multiple murder — to serve sentences consecutively rather than concurrently, Bissonnette could in theory be sentenced to 150 years prison — longer than he could live.

Huot said he wanted to know if the power to impose consecutive sentences could violate the Canadian Charter of Rights. He also asked whether he was obliged to impose consecutive sentences, noting “I have serious doubts about that.”

Speaking directly to Bissonnette who was sitting in the prisoner’s box, Huot said that all these questions are complex and he did not feel “comfortable” passing sentence before he had heard all arguments.

Huot also addressed the family and friends of the victims, saying “there are numerous legal considerations” to be considered and that it was “a lot of work for a judge.”