Great Trials IV Lecture Series - The Trial of Jocelyn Hotte
The Great Trials lecture series considers a collection of history-making trials across time and examines the social and political contexts in which they took place as well as their cultural consequences. The series takes the position that 鈥榣aw鈥� happens as聽much outside the courtroom as it does within it, and that each of these pivotal events stands as testament to the ways in which constructions of authority, law, and justice have informed cultural consciousness across centuries.
IPLAI is pleased to offer the lectures in this series for CLE credit through the Barreau du Qu茅bec.
After a brief description of the often overlooked role of the Judge who presides at a criminal jury trial, the presenter will relate the circumstances leading up to the murder trial of Jocelyn Hotte, an R.C.M.P. officer who on June 23rd, 2001 killed his paramour after a dramatic car chase on the Metropolitan Boulevard in Montreal during which the victim's cries for help were recorded by the Montreal Police. The trial was preceded by a voir dire concerning the admissibility of the recording and of various witness's testimony, which raised certain legal issues. At trial the accused took the position that he could not be held guilty of murder because his mental state did not permit him to form the intention necessary to a finding of murder; this necessitated complicated instuctions to the jury in the face of conflicting testimony by medical experts; all this during intense media coverage, probably the most the presenter had until then experienced.
For details and to register: /iplai/great-trials