Montreal Woman Unfit for Trial in Drowning Case: Vermont Judge
Posted on: Friday, 18 April 2008, 21:00 CDT
By Lisa Rathke, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NORTH HERO, Vt. - A judge ruled Friday that a Montreal woman accused of drowning her eight-year-old son in Lake Champlain is incompetent to stand trial.
As she sat sobbing and covering her face, Judge Michael Kupersmith agreed with a prosecutor and a defence attorney that Louise Desnoyers, 50, isn't competent to understand the charges against her or assist in her defence. The decision was based on a doctor's psychiatric evaluation.
Kupersmith ordered her transferred from prison to the Vermont State Hospital pending a hospitalization hearing in two weeks.
Police say Desnoyers was distraught over an impending breakup with the boy's father when she crossed into the United States in August 2006 and drowned the boy in Isle La Motte before trying to kill herself.
The body of Nicholas Desnoyers-Langlois was found in shallow water, about eight metres from shore in Isle La Motte. His wrist had been tied to a cast-iron radiator used as a mooring.
She was charged with first-degree murder.
Desnoyers' competency has been at issue for months. Her trial was to start in January, but was postponed in deference to competency evaluations.
On Friday, a French translator explained the court discussion to Desnoyers as she wept. The boy's father watched from the gallery.
At first, Kupersmith wanted her kept at the Dale women's facility in Waterbury because of concerns about the procedures preceding any hospitalization.
"I don't want Miss Desnoyers to be bounced back and forth," he said.
But he later agreed with the lawyers and ordered her confinement at the state hospital. She'll be re-evaluated in 60 days or less. She could still face a trial if she's found competent later.
The hearing, tentatively scheduled for May 2, will determine if Desnoyers will be hospitalized.
It's "our next discussion about where she's going to get her treatment to become competent," said Grand Isle State's Attorney David Miller. "The hospitalization is to restore competency."
Source: Canadian Press
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