Among the evidence that the plaintiff's lawyer in this case, Me Jessy Héroux, wants to obtain, we find, among other things, the notebook notes of the investigator Chantal Daudelin during the discovery of Cédrika Provencher's bones in 2015, which contained wiretapping notes about the family Bettez and several others.
Change of tone
Previously, the lawyers of the Quebec Attorney General (PGQ) and the SQ had refused to hand over these sensitive documents to the plaintiffs, arguing that they protected the police's investigative techniques, especially towards the one who is still considered the “main suspect” of the murder the little girl.
Everything changed on Tuesday when Judge Gregory Moore set the tone by issuing a first order on the testimony of Chantal Daudelin, who was in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of Cédrika Provencher between 2013 and 2019. The police officer continues behind closed doors, without Bettez, but with the presence of journalists.
After requesting the suspension of the work to consult the command of the SQ, the defenders, Me Ruth Arless-Frandsen and Me Valérie Lamarche, decided to negotiate with the opposing party. There were talks between the two camps on Wednesday and Thursday, which apparently went smoothly.
“We are untying a Gordian knot,” a problem for which there is no obvious solution, Mr. Héroux said before entering the courtroom on Thursday afternoon. A few minutes later he came out with his clients Huguette Drouin, André Bettez and their son Jonathan and said he was convinced that the hearing would end at the end of the day on Friday.
Does the SQ prefer to forward these privileged documents directly to the plaintiffs rather than subject them to an order from Judge Moore and also have them heard by journalists? At the moment we can only speculate, but this sudden change in attitude suggests so.
After two brief visits to the courtroom just to request a little more time for further proceedings, the Honorable Gregory Moore adjourned the hearings until Friday morning. He stressed that an agreement between the two parties was the best way to resolve the impasse.
Remembering facts
On August 29, 2016, police arrested Jonathan Bettez and conducted a search of the Emballage Bettez family business. The man is charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, but is also the main suspect in the disappearance of Cédrika Provencher in 2007.
Jonathan Bettez was finally acquitted of child pornography charges in October 2018 and will never be charged in the Cédrika Provencher case. In 2019, he and his family filed a $10 million civil lawsuit alleging they were treated unfairly by police and prosecutors.
This latest lawsuit is set to have preliminary hearings in the Supreme Court this week. This involves the disclosure of documents that were at the heart of the investigation into the little girl's disappearance and which the SQ always refused to make available to the public, but above all the one that the police still consider to be the “main suspect” is looked at. in this study Jonathan Bettez.
Only when these objections have been dealt with by the court or have been the subject of an agreement between the two parties can a date be set for the opening of the civil proceedings initiated by the Bettez family.
In this case, preliminary interrogations still need to be carried out with two high-ranking SQ officials who were active during the Cédrika Provencher affair, Jean Lafrenière and the former director general of the police, Martin Prud'homme.