Crown seeks 6 years at sentence hearing for woman convicted in fatal Laval road-rage case

Article content

The mother of a woman convicted of manslaughter in a road-rage case in Laval once said the one adjective to describe her daughter would be “impulsive.”

Alexandra Gagné-Faucher, 31, was convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the Laval courthouse on June 14. According to evidence heard during the trial, on Sept. 15, 2022, she and the victim, Stéphane Taillon, 53, were driving along Highway 15 in Laval when they began to pass each other in a reckless manner. Taillon was killed after they exited the highway and came to a stop on the service road. The Crown’s theory was that Gagné-Faucher ran him over with her car, and a witness who saw what happened from 50 metres away testified that Gagné-Faucher appeared to deliberately hit him.

Article content

Superior Court Justice Éric Downs heard  evidence to determine Gagné-Faucher’s sentence on Monday at the Laval courthouse. That included a statement from the woman who wept as she read it aloud in court.

“My sincerest condolences to the family. I will regret Sept. 15, 2022 for the rest of my life,” Gagné-Faucher said. “I will have remorse for the rest of my life.

“I sincerely regret my behaviour.”

The first witness called to testify was Gagné-Faucher’s mother, Nancy Gagné, who turned out to be a very reluctant witness.

“I am not OK with this,” Gagné told Downs after her daughter’s defence lawyers objected to her being called as a witness.

Downs agreed with prosecutor Caroline Buist’s request because Gagné had given a police statement about her daughter in the past. Downs said the mother’s testimony would provide context to her previous statement.

The mother then revealed why she was so reluctant to testify. Her statement to police was not a flattering portrait of Gagné-Faucher.

She confirmed that her daughter “got out of prostitution” before she changed jobs and worked in a massage parlour in 2011.

Article content

Article content

“What does this have to do with anything? This was in 2011,” the mother asked while replying to questions from Buist.

Gagné also agreed that she told the police that from an early age, the only adjective she could use to describe her daughter was “impulsive.” She broke down and sobbed while saying she also is impulsive and found herself constantly having to defend herself.

Gagné also confirmed that she told the police her daughter is a heavy consumer of cannabis. She conceded that in the past, she smoked “five to six joints per day” with her daughter and that at one point in their lives, they were consuming 28 grams per week together but managed to reduce it to seven grams a week.

“I don’t know. I don’t calculate my grams by joints,” Gagné said at one point in her testimony where she became confused. “(At the start) it was 28 grams per week.”

The mother also said Gagné-Faucher consumed cannabis the night before Taillon was run over in Laval.

A relative of the victim read a letter prepared by Taillon’s father, Jean-Guy Taillon, into the court record.

“Since his death on Sept. 16, 2022, I am no longer the same,” the father wrote. “Losing a child is the greatest loss for a parent. To lose one through an illness or an accident is an extreme sadness. However, to lose one in a dramatic way, as my son did, I cannot find the words to explain the suffering.”

Article content

Buist recommended an overall sentence of six years. That included 54 months for the manslaughter conviction and 18 months, to be served consecutively, for the hit-and-run charge for which she was also found guilty.

Defence lawyer Roxane Hamelin asked Downs to remember that the evidence suggests it was Taillon who forced Gagné-Faucher to stop by braking hard in front of her after they exited the highway and were on the service road. She also referenced a witness who testified at trial that Taillion appeared aggressive when he got out of his vehicle and approached Gagné-Faucher’s.

“The accused reacted to this threat,” Hamelin said while arguing she was acting in self-defence and that her client did not know the extent of Taillon’s injuries when she drove away.

Hamelin argued her client should be sentenced to two years less a day and that she be able to serve it in the community.

Downs said he plans to deliver the sentence early in October.

pcherry@postmedia.com

Article content

Article content

Article content