Brazeau pleads guilty to assault
Lawyer says ‘chances are excellent’ disgraced Tory can resume Senate career
Sen. Patrick Brazeau has pleaded guilty to reduced charges of assault and possession of cocaine after a more serious charge of sexual assault was dropped because the Crown said it did not have sufficient evidence. The former member of Stephen Harper’s Conservative caucus drew a step closer to being able to resume his Senate career as both his lawyer and the Crown prosecutor recommended an unconditional discharge. Brazeau entered the pleas Tuesday. Gerard Larocque, Brazeau’s lawyer, told Judge Valmont Beaulieu on Tuesday that if his client receives an unconditional discharge, “his chances are excellent” of returning to sit as a senator.
According to the rules, serious criminal convictions accompanied by substantial jail time are usually a one-way ticket out of the Senate. But the reduced charges, combined with an unconditional discharge, could be a boon to Brazeau — for now.
Beaulieu said he will rule on Brazeau’s sentence Oct. 28.
The senator had previously been charged with assault and sexual assault arising from an alleged incident in 2013, but the sexual assault charge was dropped, as were lesser charges from a separate incident in 2014.
Brazeau’s legal woes are not over, as he is scheduled to stand trial for allegedly being behind the wheel of a vehicle while impaired.
The senator is also scheduled to stand trial in March on charges of breach of trust and fraud in connection to his Senate expenses.
Brazeau told reporters outside the courthouse he was planning on taking a vacation and was relieved that the sexual assault charge was dropped. “For two-and-a-half years I’ve been charged with sexual assault and that accusation is one of the worst that anyone can have,” he said. “And it’s over. I’ve been found not guilty of that.”
Crown prosecutor Sylvain Petitclerc said Tuesday there was not enough evidence to go forward.
“What we told the court is that, given the proof at this time on the sexual assault charge, getting a verdict beyond any reasonable doubt seemed to us not very probable,” Petitclerc told reporters.
He suggested one reason Brazeau decided to plead guilty is because a video confession by him was scheduled to be shown during the trial.
“By pleading guilty, the video will not be shown and he won’t be counter-interrogated,” Petitclerc said.
Beaulieu said in court the alleged victim in this case — whose name is protected under a publication ban — provided “weak” testimony during the initial stages of the trial regarding the sexual assault accusation.
Petitclerc added that the alleged victim was told in advance Brazeau was to plead guilty to assaulting her and that the judge would be asked to give him a full discharge.
“She declined to make any statement today,” Petitclerc said.
Brazeau, the former head of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, was kicked out of the Tory caucus after he was charged and was suspended from the upper chamber in November 2013. That suspension without pay ended when Parliament was dissolved for the Oct. 19 election.