Preliminary hearing begins next week for man accused of killing two children in alleged bus attack on Laval daycare

Legal proceedings will continue next week for the man who allegedly drove a city bus into a Laval daycare killing two children in February 2023.

The preliminary hearing for Pierre Ny St-Amand begins Monday in Saint Jérôme. It will determine if he will stand trial for two counts of first-degree murder and seven other charges including attempted murder and aggravated assault.

“It will be a battle of experts. The experts will come and explain at that moment, was he in his right state of mind,” said Kwadwo Yeboah, a Montreal criminal defence lawyer for KDY Legal.

“The crown will lay out the evidence they have against the individual. They can call in witnesses. The witness can be cross-examined. And at the end, the judge will see what are the articles in the criminal code that the person can be cited for trial.”

Ten witnesses are expected to be cross-examined. There was also an evaluation performed on the accused to assess his mental state at the time of the alleged incident to determine if he was criminally responsible.

“In the criminal code, for somebody to be convicted of a crime, the person has to know or tell the difference between right and wrong at the moment of the infraction,” said Yeboah, adding, “you cannot trial nobody that wasn’t in the right state of mind that couldn’t tell right from wrong.”

“If he’s deemed that at that moment he was in his right of state, well, the process, the judicial process will continue and take its course.” 

Yeboah adds that experts will likely explain their assessment of Ny St-Amand’s mental state at the time of the alleged crimes. 

“This case will all resolve in the battle of experts. And it reminds me of a case that really rattled Quebec, the one of the doctor that have killed two of his kids. And it was also a case where it was a battle of experts. And this case is going to be the same thing,” explained Yeboah.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place between March 25th and 28th. There could be a publication ban on the evidence presented in court should the defence seek one and the judge grants it.

“If it’s brought up and the judge think is a reasonable, a reasonable thing to ask, or he thinks that it will protect the defendant or the case, then yes, because let’s not forget this individual is still innocent until proven guilty,” said Yeboah.