Former Quebec judge pleads guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife

After nearly 15 years of le‐ gal battles, Jacques Delisle, a former judge on the Que‐ bec Court of Appeal, plead‐ ed guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife.

Appearing in a Quebec City court room on Thursday wearing a mask, Delisle ap‐ proached the stand and ac‐ cepted the plea.

"Delisle wants everything to end today," said his lawyer, Jacques Larochelle.

Larochelle said while they agreed to the plea, parties disagreed on the facts, as the crown maintained that Delis‐ le took an active part in the death of his wife.

Taking into consideration that Delisle served eight years and 310 days in prison, his lawyers have agreed to the crown's request that Delisle spend one more day in jail.

Following a pause, the judge sentenced Delisle to one day in jail, saying that it ensures that the time he al‐ ready served can be taken in‐ to consideration in his sen‐ tence.

Delisle hobbled out of the room and muttered "oh no" as he was handcuffed by police.

In his first trial in 2012, he was convicted of the first-de‐ gree murder of his wife, 71year-old Marie Nicole Rainvil‐ le, who died in 2009.

Rainville, who had been partially paralyzed due to a stroke, died of a gunshot to the head. Delisle's first trial hinged on detailed forensic analysis over whether she had taken her own life or if he had killed her.

Delisle, now 88, said he gave her the gun, but he de‐ nied shooting her. Delisle had maintained his inno‐ cence.

After spending nearly a decade in prison, he was then awarded another trial when the federal justice min‐ ister, David Lametti, said that a "miscarriage of justice likely occurred" in part because one of the Crown's experts made serious mistakes in the original pathology report that led to Delisle's conviction.

Delisle's second trial was also plagued by delays. He was first awarded a stay of proceedings in 2022 by a Quebec Superior Court judge, but then ordered to go ahead with the trial when the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned that decision. He has been walking free await‐ ing a decision on the second trial.

The Supreme Court of Canada was slated to an‐ nounce whether it would hear the case on Thursday, but on Wednesday, the supreme court withdrew the case following a discontinu‐ ance notice by Delisle's team.

More to come.