The trial of former priest Fernand Villeneuve, accused of sexual assault, continued Thursday at Hearst courthouse with the testimony of three police officers who worked on this file.
That was the second day of the trial, three months after the first, on March 10.
Interrogations and cross-examinations focused primarily on a photographic identification session in which the victim indicated that he or she had identified his or her culprit, particularly in selecting a photo of the suspected suspect.
Thomas Gantof the Ontario Provincial Police Forensic Identification Unit at South Porcupine was one of the witnesses.
The other two officers who testified were based in Sudbury, including Robert Lewis, who took a statement from the alleged victim in March 2019 and organized a photo identification parade a few months later.
His colleague Michelle Delabasic, who did not know the details of the case, took care of showing the photos to the victim, without seeing them.
Assistant prosecutor Benoit Renaud presented in court the recording of the photographic identification session, dated Aug. 28, 2019, several years after the alleged facts.
Mr. Villeneuve was indicted in February 2020.
Defense attorney Pierre Dumais pointed out the fact that the suspect was smiling at the photo selected from three provided by the detective in charge of the investigation, Sergeant D’Amours, and that ‘it looks like it was taken by a professional. photographer.
He points out that mug shots rarely show people smiling.
Me Dumais also asked the agent Glove in the fact that he did not choose the picture that came from the time when the facts allegedly happened to the victim in the three provided by the investigator responsible for the file.
The forensic identification unit officer replied that the resolution of two of the photos was too low.
The trial was adjourned around 2:45 p.m., despite initial objections by the defense attorney, to allow the investigator who provided photos of the suspect to testify.
The case will return to court on June 15 to set a date for the remaining trial, which will include questioning of defense witnesses.
Details of the trial are subject to a publication ban to preserve the identity of the victim.
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
