Last evidence heard in PQ party shooting trial

MONTREAL — Jurors heard the final evidence Tuesday at the first-degree murder trial of the man charged in Quebec’s election-night shooting four years ago, and were told they will begin deliberations by week’s end.

Prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos and defence lawyer Alan Guttman will make their final arguments at Richard Henry Bain’s trial on Thursday.

Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer told the jurors he will confer with both lawyers about his final instructions before he delivers them Friday, with their deliberations likely to begin later that day.

“You will not go back home on Friday until a verdict is reached,” Cournoyer told them.

Bain has pleaded not guilty to six charges, including firstdegree murder. He is arguing that he is not criminally responsible by way of mental disorder.

The defence has said Bain was probably psychotic due to an undiagnosed bipolar disorder when a man was killed outside the Parti Quebecois victory party on Sept. 4, 2012.

The Crown has argued the shooting was premeditated and fuelled by Bain’s anger over the results of the provincial election that saw the PQ take power.

The final witness, toxicologist Catherine Lavallee, told the jury she found no trace of the antidepressant Cymbalta in Bain’s blood, a conclusion that contradicts the accused’s claim he overdosed on the drug the night of the shooting and suffered from memory loss.

Lavallee said she found normal amounts of other drugs and that literature she consulted suggested that none of them — including Cymbalta — would cause the blackout effect Bain had described.

The defence has argued that Bain suffered a psychotic episode while on the anti-depressant in 2009 and never fully recovered.

The accused told the jury earlier in the trial he started taking Cymbalta again, mixing it with his prescribed anti-depressant in early 2012, all without his doctor’s knowledge. Defence expert Marie-Frederique Allard said Bain was also showing signs of overdosing on medication in a police interrogation video taken hours after the shooting.

But Lavallee said she analyzed Bain’s blood three times in 2012 and tested a stored sample this year. None showed signs of the anti-depressant in question,.

Bain, 65, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of stagehand Denis Blanchette outside the Montreal venue hosting the PQ victory rally where then-leader Pauline Marois was delivering a speech.

The accused has denied having any political motives. He also faces three counts of attempted murder and two arson-related charges.