Crown’s young prosecutor, who faces charges of incapacity to drive and hit-and-run, failed Wednesday in Montreal City Court in her attempt to get a stay of the case.
Me Alice Bourbonnais-Rougeau, who works in the Major Crimes Office of the Director of Law Enforcement and Law Enforcement (DPCP), was arrested in April 2021 after making life difficult for police for more than five hours. In particular, she had denied them access to her apartment.
The 30-year-old lawyer was involved in an accident while driving and had left the scene when a witness called 911, according to the interim judgment on Wednesday’s request for a stay.
Judge Gabriel Boutros denied the request, but did not fail to highlight several behaviors by Me Bourbonnais-Rougeau that are shocking given her status as a prosecutor.
“It’s a privileged status [ comme avocate ] which she is attempting to use to place herself out of reach of the two agents,” reads Judge Boutros’ ruling, which accuses her of intentionally using her status as a prosecutor to contain the police who tried to do so to stop it.
Given her attempt to convince the court that she could no longer leave her home because the police were guarding her home, Judge Boutros was harsh:
“It’s ironic [qu’elle] complains that she was under a “seat”. [policier] in his apartment when the peace officers are forced to beat him [pendant] five o’clock in the middle of the night (…)” while waiting for a search warrant.
The court not only recognizes the young lawyer’s mistakes, but agrees with her on a number of points.
In this sense, Judge Boutros accused the police officers of abruptly ending the telephone conversation between Bourbonnais-Rougeau and his lawyer from the police station, which the court considers a violation of the exercise of the right to counsel.
However, the police’s error led to the validity of the blood alcohol tests they had to take him being discredited, leading to the rejection of the results.
At that time, the tests revealed an alcohol content of 135 and 145 mg per 100 ml of blood, the permitted limit is 80 mg.
However, the judge did not dismiss the charge of incapacity to drive. In the specific case, the evidence is not based on a blood alcohol level, but on the state of intoxication that the witness could have observed, which has yet to be proven.
The trial will resume later in April.