Pubdate: Wed, 18 Mar 2015
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Graeme Hamilton
Page: A1

JUDGE BOUGHT COCAINE WEEKS BEFORE JOINING BENCH: COUNCIL

Fighting possible removal from Quebec court

Montreal - Two weeks before Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel
Girouard was named to the bench in 2010, a security camera recorded
him buying illicit drugs in the back office of a video store, the
Canadian Judicial Council alleges in a document made public Tuesday.

The information is contained in a 21-page summary of allegations
against Judge Girouard, who could be removed from the bench after
being caught up in a major Surete du Quebec drug sting, Operation Crayfish.

The document cites four sources who claim he regularly used cocaine
during his years as a lawyer in northern Quebec's Abitibi region.

They include Dominic Veilleux, an SQ patroller, who was previously a
bartender. He said he saw Judge Girouard high on drugs at the Val d'Or
bar where he worked in 1988-91.

"He claims to have seen Mr. Girouard going to the washroom with people
who were known drug dealers and later in the evening showing signs
associated with cocaine consumption," the document says.

Michel Thibault, a Val d'Or drug boss turned police informant after
his 2010 arrest, swore under oath he had regularly done lines of
cocaine with Judge Girouard in his office. Judge Girouard's lawyers
have questioned the credibility of Thibault, who is serving a 10-year
jail term after his drug ring was dismantled during Operation Crayfish.

The judicial council document notes he passed a lie-detector test
concerning his allegations and his testimony helped convict three
other major drug dealers from the region.

Thibault told police he sold Judge Girouard about $100,000-worth of
cocaine between 1987 and 1992.

He told Marie Cossette, the independent lawyer leading the judicial
council's investigation, the man was a moderate cocaine consumer.

"He was not an addict," he said.

At another point he gave Judge Girouard $10,000-worth of cocaine in
exchange for legal services, he said.

The judge's nomination to Quebec Superior Court was under study in
September 2010. when he visited a Val d'Or video store owned by a
client, Yvon Lamontagne. Police had Mr. Lamontagne under surveillance
as part of Operation Crayfish, and a few weeks later they executed a
search warrant to seize the security camera.

Their investigation determined Mr. Lamontagne was supplying marijuana
for a criminal gang from his store. A police investigator "concluded
with certainty" a transaction between Mr. Lamontagne and Judge
Girouard caught on the security camera was a drug deal. Judge Girouard
told the judicial council he was not buying drugs, but used videos of
a sort he did not want to appear in his customer file.

The judicial council is also alleging, based on records of phone calls
between Judge Girouard and two alleged Abitibi drug traffickers, he
had close ties to organized crime. This suggests "he would not have
the necessary distance if he had to hear a case involving criminal
organizations," the judicial council document says.

Gerald Tremblay, a lawyer for Judge Girouard, said his client will
contest the allegations when the judicial council holds public
hearings. Preliminary legal matters will be addressed next week and a
hearing on the substance of the allegations is set for May

"We have a forum to establish the truth," Mr. Tremblay said. He
intends to begin by challenging the constitutionality of the judicial
council's action, arguing it has jurisdiction over what happens after
someone is named judge, "not over 25 years of legal practice."

He said those accusing Judge Girouard are, for the most part,
criminals with axes to grind.

"It's all baloney," he said. "I don't know what their motivation is,
or what the motivation is of the police who take their statements, but
these are police informants under contract who are paid."
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MAP posted-by: Matt