(Ottawa) The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of a Quebecer seeking compensation for murders he claims not to have committed.
Yves Plamondon spent nearly 28 years behind bars for the first-degree murders of three people in the 1980s.
Mr. Plamondon was released in early 2014 pending a new trial ordered by the Quebec Court of Appeal, but the Crown chose not to pursue the proceedings.
He then sued for relief, arguing that there had been a miscarriage of justice because the Crown had deliberately failed to disclose certain evidence to him at trial.
According to Mr. Plamondon, this omission violated his right to make full answer and defence, thereby violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He therefore claimed compensatory and punitive damages.
A Quebec Superior Court judge dismissed Mr. Plamondon’s claim in 2020. He found that the information withheld by the Crown was not intentionally omitted — and in any event would not have had no impact on the guilty verdict.
The Court of Appeal upheld that decision in 2022, and the Supreme Court sees no legal grounds to review it.
