Jacques Delisle, a retired Quebec judge who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife, has died at the age of 89.
The Quebec Court of Appeal issued a statement Monday confirming the death of Delisle, who had served as president of the province’s highest court from 1992 until his retirement in 2009.
Delisle spent nearly nine years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder and given a life sentence in the 2009 shooting death of his wife, Marie Nicole Rainville.
However, he was released in 2021 after the federal justice minister concluded there was likely a miscarriage of justice in the case, and Delisle was ordered to appear in court again.
The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world.
Receive national news daily
Receive the day’s top news, political, economic and current affairs features, delivered to your inbox once a day.
The retired judge pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March, avoiding a second trial. His lawyer told the court that his client did not shoot Rainville, but caused her death by leaving a loaded gun next to her at her request.
The Supreme Court sentenced Delisle to eight years and 311 days in prison – all but one of the days he had previously served after his 2012 conviction – and the retired judge walked free after spending a few hours in detention.
Lawyer Jacques Larochelle told the court in March that Rainville was dealing with the effects of a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and that she had a broken hip that robbed her of her independence and her ability to enjoy life.
At his trial, the Crown argued that Delisle had shot his wife to avoid a costly divorce and that he had wanted to move in with his former secretary, with whom he was having an affair.
In its statement on Delisle’s death, the Court of Appeal said the “renowned lawyer” was always a strong supporter of the French language in legal writings, adding that the quality of his decisions “testified his sincere dedication to the law’.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
