New trial ordered for Montreal man who pleaded guilty to sexual assault

Article content

The Quebec Court of Appeals ordered a former masseur to undergo a new trial even though he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two of his clients and has already served his prison sentence.

Article content

“(We) are not hesitant to conclude that (the) appellant did not benefit from the fair and equitable procedure to which he was entitled, regardless of the prospect of a different end result. Such a judicial error requires the court to authorize the withdrawal of the guilty plea and order a new trial, ”wrote the Quebec Court of Appeal in a decision published Monday.

On January 30, 2018, Rajesh Mohabir de LaSalle pleaded guilty to the two counts of sexual assault brought against him in Montreal court in 2015. To his surprise, Quebec Court Judge Daniel Bédard decided to sentence him himself. day to a 16-month prison term followed by two years of probation. Bédard also ordered that Mohabir be listed on the national sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

Article content

Mohabir, now 49, decided to plead guilty to the two charges the day after his legal aid attorney succeeded in his request to be removed from the record. On the Friday before Mohabir’s trial began, the lawyer suggested that he plead guilty.

“He did not agree with that suggestion. (Mohabir) affirms that there was no discussion on the merits of the case per se at that time and that the lawyer had not been willing to have such a discussion, since her legal assistance mandate had not been approved, ”the appeals court wrote. in his seven-page decision.

“On Monday morning, to (Mohabir’s) surprise, her attorney filed a motion to withdraw from the record due to a ‘strong lack of trust’ between her and (Mohabir). The judge accepted the motion, informed (Mohabir) that the trial would begin the next morning and allowed him the remainder of the day to prepare for the trial and / or find an attorney to represent him. (Mohabir) told the judge that this did not give him ‘the opportunity to have a full defense’ and that he did not even have a copy of his file. The judge replied that the situation was his doing and fired him until the next morning.

Article content

“He used the rest of the day on Monday to make phone calls and physically go to the attorneys’ offices in an attempt to hire a lawyer to start the trial the next morning, all to no avail.”

The decision notes that Bédard assumed that Mohabir’s situation was “his doing” because the lawyer who withdrew was the third lawyer to represent him in the file.

Mohabir, who was represented by attorney Victoria Nix during her appeal, argued that she decided to plead guilty the next day because she wrongly assumed that she would not be allowed to question witnesses. He also thought that by pleading guilty, he could buy the time he needed to find a defense attorney to represent him during the sentencing stage of his case. But Bédard decided to sentence him to prison that same day. Mohabir also claimed that, during his preliminary investigation, he understood that he could only be sentenced to perform community service.

Article content

“The statement was not informed, voluntary and unequivocal, as it was presented without adequate knowledge of the consequences and by a defendant who wanted to go to trial but was forced by circumstances to plead guilty,” the three-judge panel wrote. “(Mohabir) did not have the opportunity that a lawyer would have given him to at least negotiate a joint presentation regarding the sentence that emerges from the guilty plea. In fact, it does not appear that (the prosecution) has made any concession on the statement that it recommended to the judge and that the judge accepted and imposed on the spot ”.

[email protected]