The driver of the stars was opposed to the “testimony under hypnosis”

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The pilot Normand Dubé has filed a petition to cancel a testimony obtained under hypnosis by the police.

Hugo Joncas

Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 01:00

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The “pilot stars” request to cancel a witness that would have been obtained under hypnosis in the course of his trial for sabotage alleged high-voltage power lines from Hydro-Quebec, by the end of 2014.

The witness is a woodcutter who would have attended the mischief complained of to Normand Dubé, helicopter pilot, often used by celebrities from quebec, such as Normand Brathwaite and Gaston Lepage.

The lawyer of the driver, Maxim Knight, has attached to its request the form from the Sûreté du Québec, sign the witness Benjamin Goyette, entitled ” Declaration of voluntary acceptance at a session of hypnosis [sic] “.

“I agree, hereby, voluntarily and freely, to submit to a hypnosis session performed by a member of the Sûreté du Québec,” says the document, dated December 23, 2014, two weeks after the arrest of the driver.

In its petition presented on 9 February, Mr. Knight relies on a judgment of the supreme Court in 2007, according to which a “witness posthypnotique” is ” inadmissible for the establishment of the proof “.

For their part, the prosecutors will try to demonstrate in the next few weeks as the testimony of Benjamin Goyette has not been obtained under hypnosis, but rather during an ” interview cognitive “, a technique of interrogation, specialised supposed to facilitate the memories.

The prosecutor, Steve Baribeau, has not wanted to comment further at this stage. “We will discuss this point at the court,” he said.

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The rare form authorizing a “hypnosis session” by the Sûreté du Québec.

“National security “

At least one of the misdeeds alleged against Normand Dubé would have been committed with the help of the small plane’s pilot. For the rest, the State prosecutor objected to the trial is conducted publicly, as it is yet the norm in the administration of justice.

Hydro-Québec and the Director of criminal and penal prosecutions have obtained the details of the alleged wrongdoing on the lines will remain confidential under a rare view of the working Group on the national security of the department of Justice of Canada.

At the heart of the evidence in the camera figure the precise method that would have used Normand Dubé to sabotage, as it is said, of the lines of the State-owned company.

Questions without answers

The public remains in complete darkness in regards to the question at the center of its lawsuit : a simple pilot can alone cause such damage to the Hydro-Québec network ? If not, what is this that has caused the bigger failures that the corporation assigns to Normand Dubé ?

The 4 and 5 December 2014, problems on high voltage power lines in the Laurentians plunged not less than 200 000 persons in the black, in addition to compromising the exports of electricity.

The use of hypnosis to refresh the memory of witnesses is very rare in Québec. However, it has been used on occasion, although the rules are very framed.In a decision dating back to 2004, a judge in Sherbrooke recalled that this method is the subject of controversy. It can, however, be accepted, among other things, if the hypnosis is conducted by a qualified professional and independent, according to the words of the judge at the time.

Normand Dubé is also facing a civil lawsuit for nearly $ 30 million from Hydro-Québec for the alleged damages.