Fate of Bathurst officers charged in fatal shooting to be decided next month

A New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench justicewill rule next month on whether to reverse a lower court decision not to try two Bathurstpolice officers on manslaughter inthe 2015 shooting death ofTracadiebusinessman Michel Vienneau.

Charges against constables PatrickBulgerand MathieuBoudreauwere dropped in February after a provincial court judge found the Crown had not presented enough evidence against them at the preliminary inquiry last year.

New Brunswick public prosecution services requested a judicial review bythe Court of Queen's Bench, seeking to have the decision by Judge AnneDugas-Horsmanoverruled.

Court of Queen's BenchJusticeTraceyDeWare heard arguments in Bathurston Tuesday, with Bulger, 38,and Boudreau, 28,both present.

• Judicial review sought of decision not to try police in Bathurst shooting death
• Charges dropped against 2 Bathurst police officers accused in shooting death

About two dozen of Vienneau's relatives and friends packed the courtroom.

There is a publication ban on the arguments presented. At the beginning of thehearing,DeWareimposed a publication ban on "everything that is said in this courtroom."

But in seeking the review in April, prosecutors arguedDugas-Horsmanfailedto consider all of the relevant evidence at the preliminary inquiry and committed a jurisdictional error.

DeWarecould uphold the lower court decision, which would end the prosecution,or commitBulger,of Beresford, and Boudreau, of Dunlop,to trial.

Shehas reserved decision until Sept. 25 at 2:30 p.m.

At the preliminary hearing in February, Dugas-Horsmanruled theprosecution failed to meet the threshold that the two constables engaged in an illegal act when they attempted to arrest Vienneauin the parking lot of theVia Rail station inBathurston Jan. 12, 2015.

Vienneau, 51, was shot and killed after getting off a train from Montreal.

Bathurstofficers were attempting to arrestVienneauand his common-law partner,Annick Basque, as part of a drug investigation prompted by an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip received thatmorning, according to a general occurrence report filed with the court byBasquein her negligence lawsuit against the City of Bathurst.

The tip, that Vienneauwas carrying "a load of drugs," proved to be false.

BulgerandBoudreau were each facingcharges ofmanslaughter with a weapon, assault with a weapon and unlawfully pointing a firearm.

They were both suspended with pay from the police force after the charges were laid.