Jean-Pierre Bonin Explained

Jean-Pierre Bonin (1942 – June 18, 2010) was a judge in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Early life and career

Bonin was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in the United States of America. He studied law at the Universite de Montreal and was called to the bar of Quebec in 1967. He completed a master's degree in law in 1978 and was appointed as the chief crown prosecutor for Montreal the following year.[1]

In 1978, Bonin was the crown prosecutor against Jacques Cossette-Trudel and Louise Lanctôt, former members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) who pleaded guilty to the kidnapping of United Kingdom diplomat James Cross.[2] Over the next four years, he prosecuted separate cases against former FLQ members Alain Allard, Nigel Barry Hamer, Marc Carbonneau, and Yves Langlois.[3]

Bonin also prosecuted the trial of Claude Vermette, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer who was charged with committing illegal activities in the line of duty, in the early 1980s. The trial drew attention to several illicit RCMP activities in Quebec during the 1970s.[4] The case ended in a mistrial after Quebec premier René Lévesque criticized a trial witness during a legislative debate.[5]

Judge

Bonin was appointed as a Quebec Sessions Court judge in July 1983.[6] In 1986, he oversaw a high-profile preliminary hearing of five persons accused of attempting to blow up Air India Flight 112. (This is not to be confused with the more prominent trials that took place concerning the destruction of Air India Flight 182.)[7]

Bonin was later promoted to head the criminal division of the Court of Quebec in September 1988.[8] In June 1996, he was appointed by the government of Quebec to hold a closed-door inquiry into the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), following widespread accusations of corruption in the force.[9] The inquiry ultimately became ground down in acrimony among the various parties, and Bonin resigned in October 1996 after a burglary in his office. The government of Quebec subsequently called a public inquiry into the matter.[10] In 1998, Bonin oversaw a preliminary hearing into charges against Canadian Hells Angels leader Maurice Boucher.[11]

Bonin oversaw several high-profile cases in his last years. In 2004, he was the presiding judge who oversaw prominent Montreal businessman Irving Grundman's guilty plea in a municipal corruption case.[12] Four years later, Canadian mafia leader Nicolo Rizzuto admitted before Bonin's court that he was a member of a criminal organization.[13] As the result of a plea bargain, Rizzuto received only a suspended sentence and probation; Bonin later imposed a $209,000 fine on Rizzuto in a separate case involving tax evasion.[14]

Bonin delivered a verdict in 2007 that recognized a small street gang as a criminal organization. This was generally regarded as reducing the threshold for achieving convictions in organized crime trials.[15]

Death

Bonin died at age sixty-eight in 2010, after suffering a heart attack while attending a conference in London, Ontario. He was remembered as an extremely hard working judge and an institution in Quebec's legal system.[16]

References

  1. Sue Montgomery, "Dedicated judge was an 'institution'; Many touched by death of Jean-Pierre Bonin," Montreal Gazette, 19 June 2010, A8.
  2. "Crown briefs FLQ pair's lawyer on evidence," Globe and Mail, 28 December 1978, p. 8.
  3. "Ex-FLQ member pleads guilty," Globe and Mail, 16 February 1980, p. 13; "Hamer pleads guilty to kidnapping charge in FLQ-Cross case," Globe and Mail, 18 November 1980, p. 8; "FLQ suspect gives press a shock: his court appearance unnoticed," Globe and Mail, 1 September 1981, p. 8; Victor Malarek, "Marc Carbonneau enters plea of guilty in Cross kidnapping," Globe and Mail, 23 October 1981, p. 10; "Last FLQ suspect to return today," Globe and Mail, 9 June 1982, p. 8; Victor Malarek, "Last FLQ terrorist enters plea of guilty," Globe and Mail, 31 August 1982, p. 9. "Carbonneau" is the correct spelling.
  4. Victor Malarek, "Other break-ins revealed at RCMP trial," Globe and Mail, 23 April 1982, p. 9; Victor Malarek, "Break-ins authorized by Government, trial told," Globe and Mail, 6 May 1981, p. 10.
  5. Victor Malarek, "Levesque's outburst in House causes mistrial in RCMP case," Globe and Mail, 8 May 1982, p. 1; Victor Malarek, "Citing Levesque outburst, judge sets RCMP inspector free," Globe and Mail, 2 October 1982, p. 11.
  6. "Montreal judge stabbed, robbed," Globe and Mail, 15 July 1983, p. 9. The newspaper title does, in fact, refer to Bonin, who soon recovered from his injuries.
  7. Michael Hanlon, "5 Sikhs held in custody as Air-India jet delayed," Toronto Star, 1 June 1986, A1.
  8. Rene Laurent, "Streamlined court system expected to help wheels of justice turn faster," Montreal Gazette, 3 September 1988, A4.
  9. Andre Picard, "Quebecois Voices," Globe and Mail, 20 June 1996, A21.
  10. "Quebec police chief steps aside," Toronto Star, 19 October 1996, A3; Robert McKenzie, "Quebec's police reform bill called a cop-out --- Threats may be behind weaknesses, criminologist says," Toronto Star, 5 February 2000, p. 1.
  11. "Hell's kingpin sent to trial," Montreal Gazette, 14 May 1998, A3.
  12. Tu Thanh Ha, "Grundman pleads guilty to municipal corruption; Former GM of Montreal Canadiens admits taking money to change city zoning bylaw," Globe and Mail, 15 September 2004, A12; "Ex-Habs GM pays for bribe; But Grundman not going to jail Former councillor: 'I am very sorry'," Toronto Star, 11 January 2005, E02.
  13. Adrian Humphreys, "Inside the sanctum; Six of Canada's biggest mobsters plead guilty," National Post, 19 September 2008, A1; Paul Cherry, "Head of Montreal crime family pleads guilty to gangsterism; Plea agreement not expected to net Rizzuto more time," National Post, 19 September 2008, A3; Sue Montgomery, "Dedicated judge was an 'institution'; Many touched by death of Jean-Pierre Bonin," Montreal Gazette, 19 June 2010, A8.
  14. Ingrid Peritz, "Reputed patriarch of Canadian crime family walks free; Nicolo Rizzuto, 84, gets suspended sentence, probation after plea bargain," Globe and Mail, 17 October 2008, A5; Paul Cherry, "Rizzuto fesses up: I'm a tax cheat; Fined $209,000; Had $5 million stashed in Swiss bank account," Montreal Gazette, 12 February 2010, A6.
  15. Tu Thanh Ha, "Gangsterism ruling to affect street gangs; Verdict against small-time thugs lowers bar for organized-crime charge, lawyer says," Globe and Mail, 25 January 2007, A8.
  16. Sue Montgomery, "Dedicated judge was an 'institution'; Many touched by death of Jean-Pierre Bonin," Montreal Gazette, 19 June 2010, A8.

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