Saguenay Mayor Julie Dufour will know her fate no later than August 20th.

Saguenay Mayor Julie Dufour will have to wait until August 20 at the latest before learning her fate in court.

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Judge Louis Duguay took the case under advisement after hearing arguments from both parties yesterday.

The prosecution, represented by lawyers Laurie Mongrain and Natacha Dupuis-Carrier, claims that it is unthinkable that Jean-Marc Crevier, Serge Simard, and Jacinthe Vaillancourt invented their version. They provided sincere and convincing testimony.

Mr. Mongrain opened his argument by explaining why the DGEQ had chosen to submit the mayor's sworn statements as evidence, which therefore served as her testimony. By including them in its evidence, the DGEQ wanted to enlighten the court on the context in which its investigation began.

In the morning, Judge Duguay noted that this approach had deprived the court of a tool to assess credibility, truthfulness, and contradictions, "even if it did not mean a free pass for acquittal," he specified. "The judge is not condemned to acquit him on all three counts."

Mr. Mongrain believes that the statements, which respond to the allegations of Messrs. Crevier and Simard and of Ms. Vaillancourt, contain "improbabilities."

Among other things, when the mayor claims that it was Serge Simard who condescendingly suggested she step down in June 2021, even though Julie Dufour had never mentioned this fact before. Then, the mayor alleges that Jacinthe Vaillancourt wanted to stage a "putsch" by leaving her electoral organization.

ROGER GAGNON / QMI AGENCY

"We sense bitterness in Jean-Marc Crevier's testimony, suffering in Jacinthe Vaillancourt's, but we sense nothing in the affidavit," the judge commented.

Defense attorney Charles Levasseur is asking the court to reject the evidence against his client.

According to him, the testimonies of the three people targeted have "no reliability, no credibility and their probative value is zero," he insisted. "The complainants contaminated each other, and there is evidence of collusion between the witnesses."

Mr. Levasseur spoke of a five-act play, starting on June 14, 2023, when Councilor Michel Tremblay, a close friend of Jean-Marc Crevier, was expelled from the executive committee. Complaints would be filed in succession in the following months. Ms. Vaillancourt even contacted someone in Michel Tremblay's entourage on the very day the DGEQ investigator met with Jean-Marc Crevier and Serge Simard.

Judge Duguay circled the date of August 20, but did not rule out the possibility of being able to render his judgment before then.

Julie Dufour has already announced her intention to seek re-election next November. The verdict will therefore be handed down a few weeks before the actual start of the election campaign.