Trial by judge alone, set for April 2014, for ex-Quebec lieutenant-governor

QUEBEC – The Crown has agreed to a request by a former Quebec lieutenant-governor that her fraud trial be held before a judge alone.

Lise Thibault sought the change last month after initially opting for a jury trial.

Thibault was also informed during a court appearance in Quebec City today that the trial will start April seventh, 2014.

It is expected to last six weeks.

Thibault faces charges of fraud and breach of trust related to more than $700,000 in allegedly improper expenses.

Thibault’s lawyers are attempting to get the case tossed out by the Supreme Court through the novel argument that she, as the highest representative of the Crown in Quebec, cannot be prosecuted by herself.

For 10 years ending in 2007 she was the lieutenant-governor, performing a similar role at the provincial level to the one executed at the federal level by the Governor General.