Canada, 12 years for two deaths, Evidence in shooting could only prove attempted murder

OFF THE WIRE
Source: montrealgazette.com
By PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette

Evidence in shooting could only prove attempted murder
A courtroom erupted into chaotic shouting yesterday after a man was sentenced to 12 years for the attempted murder of two men who died after being shot at a downtown nightclub.
"There is no justice, as you can see," Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, 34, shouted toward his relatives as Superior Court Justice Jean-Guy Boilard sentenced him.
While his mother blurted several times: "He's innocent!" Hudon-Barbeau continued his rant from the prisoner's dock, asking someone seated in the audience if they will ever be able to look themselves in the mirror again.
Courthouse guards led Hudon-Barbeau away as he continued to shout, and his relatives argued with other people in the courtroom. Security was tight and most of the people who attended the hearing were searched before they could enter.
Hours earlier, Boilard convicted Hudon-Barbeau, an alleged associate of the Hells Angels, of attempted murder in a case where the victims were killed. Jean-Patrick Fleury, 28, and Vladimir Nicolas, 31, were found dead on a back stairway outside the Upperclub on St. Laurent Blvd. in October 2006. Both men had been shot. The Crown's theory during the trial is they were shot by Hudon-Barbeau after an argument in the club's VIP section, and collapsed on the stairway as they tried to escape.
Prosecutor Randall Richmond presented two witnesses who saw Hudon-Barbeau holding a firearm after the men were shot. But the credibility of one witness was hotly debated during the trial. Also, a ballistics expert testified that two different calibres of bullets were used in the shooting, raising the possibility another gunman was involved. The homicide investigation was also not helped by the fact someone managed to clean up the scene before Montreal police major crimes investigators arrived. Hudon-Barbeau was initially charged with second-degree murder when he was arrested in 2007. The charges were downgraded to manslaughter before the trial began.

Boilard determined there was at least enough evidence to prove Hudon-Barbeau fired a gun in the direction of both men before they died.
Fleury and Nicolas had ties to a street gang, but organized crime affiliations played little or no role in the trial.
Boilard sided with Richmond's recommendation on sentencing. Defence lawyer Pierre Poupart had asked for less than 10 years. With time served factored in, Hudon-Barbeau has a little more than five years left on his sentence.
His emotional mother said outside the courtroom that his family plans to appeal the conviction.
"Benjamin always did well to others. He's not an angel but he did not kill anyone," she said.
Hudon-Barbeau still faces drug trafficking and gangsterism charges in Operation SharQc, the case that involves almost the entire membership of the Hells Angels in this province and many of their associates.

pcherry@montrealgazette.com

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/years+deaths/3786966/story.html#ixzz14WPdOiGm