Quebec City police officer who made fatal U-turn given 1-year sentence
A Quebec City police officer who caused the death of a motorcyclist in 2015 will serve one year in jail, a judge ruled Monday.
On the evening of Sept. 10, 2015, Const. Isabelle Morin was driving her police cruiser on the Laurentian Highway which runs north of the city.
She had been heading north on the one lane that was open to traffic on the southbound side of the highway.
Morin then pulled a U-turn between the orange cones separating traffic, in order to take the Georges-Muir exit on the other side of the highway.
That's when Jessy Drolet, 38, crashed into the side of Morin's cruiser with his motorcycle.
Morin was initially acquitted after a 10-day trial in 2018, but that verdict was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2021. A new trial was ordered. Morin appealed to the Supreme Court, but her case was not heard.
In 2022, a Quebec court judge found her guilty of dangerous driving causing death for her role in the collision.
The prosecution had asked for between 15 and 18 months' imprisonment.
Although Morin had hoped to serve a conditional sentence in the community, Quebec Court Judge Frank D'Amours concluded that the manoeuvre warranted jail time.
In asking for a lighter sentence, the defence cited the media coverage of the case and the fact that Morin risked losing her job.
"It's her job. But it's my boy I've lost," said Marlène Drolet, the mother of Jessy Drolet.
As she was leaving the courtroom, she said she was satisfied with the sentencing, saying that police officers have to take responsibility for their actions.
The judge noted Morin's "startling" statement during the trial that she would have done the same U-turn at the wheel of her own car.
Morin also stated that she would not have intercepted a motorist who had performed the same manoeuvre in front of her.
On Monday, in addition to the 12 months' imprisonment, the judge imposed a one-year driving ban.
Morin, 53, has been on leave since the incident and has appealed her guilty verdict.
She will therefore be able to apply for conditional release, pending review of her case by the Quebec Court of Appeal.
