A montreal lawyer charged with obstructing justice

Photo Martin Alarie
Dimitrios Strapatsas, a criminal lawyer with 10 years of experience, was presented Tuesday at the judicial Center Gouin, in Montreal, to defend themselves of the accusations of having committed obstruction of justice in a murder case.

Michael Nguyen

Tuesday, 29 August, 2017 11:49

UPDATE
Tuesday, 29 August, 2017 21:55

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A montreal lawyer accused of helping a murderer to be broadcast over the internet the declaration of an informer annoying defended, Tuesday, in front of the court, to have committed a criminal act.

“I have done nothing that, according to me, would be illegal” has made clear to Me Dimitrios Strapatsas during his testimony at the judicial Center Gouin, in Montreal.

The criminal lawyer, known for defending the son of former Hells Angels Maurice ” Mom ” Boucher, is accused of obstructing justice in a folder of murder.

The case goes back to 2015, when Dimitrios Strapatsas defended John Boulachanis, a defendant sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. The two men knew each other since they were teenagers, although they were lost from view for more than a decade.

As the accused has access to all the evidence collected against him, Boulachanis then learned that a fellow-prisoner, to whom he had made incriminating statements, was going to testify against him.

The police had met the informer, who cannot be identified, and the entire interrogation had been videotaped.

“Boulachanis would like to see it go,” also testified Tuesday, another inmate, whose name is also stamped with a publication ban.

According to this witness, Boulachanis asked him to help him to upload a video, by making him believe that it was to denounce the conditions of detention in the establishment of Rivière-des-Prairies. In exchange, the murderer was willing to pay 200 $.

“A rat dirty “

“I needed money, it has not bothered me pantoute,” said the witness.

The latter then asked the help of his spouse, who is quickly executed. The CD, which was presented to him by Boulachanis contained the statement of the informer with a mode of employment.

“It is an informer, a drain and a rat dirty “, was it written in the manual.

Once the video is on the internet, the woman contacted Dimitrios Strapatsas to be paid, as had been agreed. After a few exchanges via text message, the woman went to a Tim Hortons in Montreal, where the lawyer handed him $ 200 in $20 bills.

The lawyer swears he was unaware of the reason why he gave money to this woman. All he did was respond to a request for Boulachanis, ” he said.

“Don’t you find that this is the wilful blindness ?” asked Jennifer Morin, of the Crown, while highlighting that the lawyer had kept no text of this case.

Dimitrios Strapatsas responded that no, while affirming that he would never have agreed to commit an illegal act.

The video was eventually removed from the web, when the woman who had online realized that he was a witness in a murder case. Boulachanis said come to the wrong CD, while adding still be happy to have released the identity of the informer.

The trial continues Wednesday.