Murder of her baby: Sofiane Ghazi cited at trial

Photo taken from Facebook

Michael Nguyen

Thursday, 8 march 2018 15:06

UPDATE
Thursday, 8 march 2018 15:13

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The Montreal-accused of having attempted to kill his wife pregnant and have caused the death of their baby will have to undergo a trial. The jury will decide on the legal status of the new-born.

“The judge has found to be sufficient evidence for the jury decides if [the baby] was alive or not,” said Thursday the prosecutor Chantal Michaud, the palais de justice of Montreal.

Sofiane Ghazi had just been summoned to trial for the premeditated murder of “baby Ghazi”, which occurred on July 24 in Montreal.

On that day, the accused 37-year-old would have taken his wife and would have stabbed her in the stomach while she was eight months pregnant. The woman had survived, but not the child.

Legal status

This case had at the time raised the question of the legal status of the baby, whether or not it was a human being within the meaning of the act. The criminal Code states that a baby becomes “when it is fully emerged, alive, from the womb of its mother”, and this, regardless of if it breathes, if it has a movement independent or if it is still attached to its mother by the umbilical cord.

Ghazi has undergone its preliminary inquiry, the purpose of which was to determine whether the Crown’s evidence justified a trial. The judge Linda Despots stated that this was the case. However, the evidence and the reasons which have enabled the judge to arrive at this decision are subject to a publication ban.

Ghazi, who is in preventive detention, has carefully listened to the decision. Although he remained impassive, he had a look of concern.

“At this stage of the proceedings, it is a very summary of the evidence, reminded the defence lawyer François Taddeo, who represents the accused with Me Badre Aber. We have our position on [the definition] of a living being, and we are still convinced of the merits of our arguments.”

Premeditation

The lawyers announced that they would analyse the decision to determine if they would dispute this on the appeal or if they would argue in their defence at trial. Note that Ghazi, at this stage of the proceedings, always enjoys the presumption of innocence.

At trial, the jury shall also decide on the intent of the alleged crime. Ghazi is accused of first-degree murder, which means that the Crown is of the opinion that it has planned for the death of “baby Ghazi” and acted in a deliberate way.

Ghazi will return to court in April, possibly for a trial date. Note that, because of the judgment in Jordan of the supreme Court of Canada on the delays “unreasonable”, Ghazi should in theory be tried in the 30 months following his arrest. According to the Crown, this aspect of the record does not pose any problem.

“It follows its course within the deadlines that meet the standards,” said ms. Michaud, who driver the folder with the prosecutor Louis Bouthillier.