Jury deliberations to stretch into 10th day in Quebec election shooting trial

MONTREAL — The jury deciding the fate of Quebec’s alleged 2012 election-night shooter will return for a 10th day of deliberations after failing to reach a verdict on Sunday.

For a second straight day, there were no questions or messages from the jurors contemplating the charges against Richard Henry Bain as deliberations stretched into their second week.

Bain, 65, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of stagehand Denis Blanchette outside a nightclub as then-Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois was inside celebrating her party’s provincial election victory.

Bain also faces three counts of attempted murder.

The prosecution argued that Bain deliberately fired the bullet that killed Blanchette and seriously injured another stagehand because he was angry over the PQ’s victory.

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But Bain’s defence team countered he was mentally ill and should be found not criminally responsible on all charges.

As Day 9 concluded, Bain’s lawyer said the length of the deliberations could be a sign that one or two jurors disagree with the majority.

But Alan Guttman also reminded reporters that lengthy deliberations aren’t unusual in cases involving a defence of non-criminal responsibility.

“It’s very, very long but it’s not unreasonable,” he said outside the courtroom.

Last week, Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer told the jury its first task was to evaluate Bain’s mental state on the night of the shooting.

If they reject the not criminally responsible defence, which would apply to all charges, the seven women and five men on the jury must reach unanimous verdicts on each of the four charges Bain is facing.

The Canadian Press