{"id":77611,"date":"2022-01-18T11:59:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T16:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=77611"},"modified":"2022-01-18T14:30:21","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T19:30:21","slug":"fort-coulonge-homicide-case-moves-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/fort-coulonge-homicide-case-moves-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort-Coulonge homicide case moves forward"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Fort-Coulonge homicide case continues to wind its way through the court system, as a preliminary inquiry was held last week. A preliminary inquiry is used in serious cases to determine whether evidence is sufficient to proceed to a trial.<\/p>\n<p>Police were called to a residence on rue Principale the evening of Sept. 2, 2020, where they found 61-year-old Harold Plugowsky, 61, of Fort Coulonge with severe head trauma. He died in hospital the following morning. Johan Mitchell Blake MacLennan, 37 at the time, was arrested and subsequently charged with first-degree murder after a brief court appearance on Sept. 3.<\/p>\n<p>Crown Prosecutor Simon Pelletier explained that defense lawyer \u00c9lise Pinsonnault requested a publication ban on the preliminary inquiry, and at this stage the judge must comply with the request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it\u2019s sought by the defense at the preliminary inquiry stage, the judge has no discretion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-77611-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Clip-Simon-Pelletier-pub-ban.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Clip-Simon-Pelletier-pub-ban.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Clip-Simon-Pelletier-pub-ban.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Thus, with the publication ban in place, news outlets are unable to report any of the testimony or details provided at the hearings, which took place from Jan. 10-14.<\/p>\n<p>Pelletier did note that they heard from several witnesses and the proceedings took the full five days. The next stage of the trial will be on Feb. 9, when the defense and crown make their submissions to the judge, who will render his decision on the charges going forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe big issue, and that\u2019s really the purpose of a preliminary inquiry, is really what\u2019s going to be the charge for trial. That\u2019s the big thing, that\u2019s the main thing that the judge will have to decide,\u201d Pelletier explained. \u201cIf the judge says, \u2019I\u2019m ok, or there\u2019s sufficient evidence to go ahead with first degree murder,\u2019 well, that has an implication. If he says 'Well, it\u2019s manslaughter,\u2019 \u2014which, I would be surprised but we never know\u2014let\u2019s say he says this, then well we\u2019re bound by this decision. We have to respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-77611-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Clip-Simon-Pelletier-prelim-inquiry.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Clip-Simon-Pelletier-prelim-inquiry.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Clip-Simon-Pelletier-prelim-inquiry.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Depending on the charge, Pelletier expected that the case would be heard by a Superior Court judge and jury. Submissions will take place on Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. in courtroom 16 at the Gatineau Courthouse.<\/p>\n<p>Crown prosecutors for the case are Pelletier and St\u00e9phane Rolland. The accused is represented by Pinsonnault and Catherine Ranalli.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Fort-Coulonge homicide case continues to wind its way through the court system, as a preliminary inquiry was held last week. A preliminary inquiry is used in serious cases to determine whether evidence is sufficient to proceed to a trial. Police were called to a residence on rue Principale the evening of Sept. 2, 2020,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":77619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3265],"tags":[668,11991,11981,4225,1507],"radio":[239],"origine":[274,258,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77611"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=77611"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=77611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}