Crown wants Richard Bain to serve 25 years before parole for Quebec election-night shooting

If the case of Quebec election-night gunman Richard Bain does not warrant the maximum sentence, then no case ever will.

That's the position put forward by Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos in recently filed court documents.

Galiatsatos called Bain's actions an act of terrorism, noting that he did not choose to attack a liquor store or a rival gang.

"The appellant committed his shooting, his attempted mass murder, at a political rally. On election night no less."

He said this sort of attack on democracy justifies the maximum 25-year term.

Quebec's Court of Appeal will hear the appeal of Bain's sentence Oct. 30.

The court will also take the unusual step of having five judges hear the appeal instead of the normal three, a measure the Crown asked for because it will be asking the court to review three of its own precedents.

• Quebec election-night shooter Richard Bain appeals his sentence
• Richard Bain guilty of 2nd-degree murder in 2012 Quebec election-night shooting

In 2016, Bain was convicted of second-degree murder for the 2012 election-night shooting at the Parti Qubcois rally at the Metropolis nightclub. He was also convicted on three counts of attempted murder.

Bain fired one shot from his semi-automatic rifle before it jammed, but still managed to kill lighting technician Denis Blanchette and seriously injure stagehand Dave Courage.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer sentenced Bain to life in prison with a period of 20 years before being eligible to apply for parole.

An 'evil scheme'

Bain is asking for that sentence to be reduced to 10 years before being eligible or parole.

However, the Crown prosecutor is asking for the court to dismiss the appeal and increase the amount of time Bain must serve before being able to apply for parole to the maximum 25 years.

"Much like his crimes, the appellant's suggestion that he be given the minimum sentence was an affront to democracy," wrote Galiatsatos.

In his filing to the appeal court, Galiatsatos chronicled Bain's "evil scheme."

He said Bain drove from his home in La Conception with an SUV loaded with assault rifles, handguns, countless rounds of extra ammunition, gasoline tanks and road flares.

"Before leaving, he emptied an entire container of cat food on his kitchen floor for his cat, knowing that he would not be returning home."

Ignored jurisprudence?

Defence lawyer Alan Guttman argued that Cournoyer ignored jurisprudence in the precedent-setting case involving Denis Lortie.

Lortie killed three government employees at the National Assembly in 1984. He was eligible for parole after 10 years.

Galiatsatos says Bain's sentence cannot be compared to the Lortie sentencing. He wrote the Lortie sentence cannot be seen as a precedent as it didn't deal with the length of his sentence, but rather the constitutional validity of the 10-year minimum term.

Guttman is also basing the appeal on the fact the judge made a mistake when he did not ask jury members for their recommendations on parole after they found him guilty.

However, Galiatsatos pointed out that when the judge raised the omission at the sentencing hearing, Guttman did not ask for any remedy, instead telling the judge "believe me, it's nobody's fault."

Guttman is also appealing his client's sentence for the three counts of attempted murder on the grounds that his client only fired one bullet.