Quebec police officer acquitted in 3rd trial since fatal 2012 crash

A Quebec provincial police officer, François Laurin, has been acquitted following his third trial for his involvement in a fatal high-speed crash in 2012. On Friday, Laurin was cleared of the original charges of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with the collision that resulted in the death of 25-year-old Éric Rompré and serious injury to his girlfriend, Marie-Ève Bossé.

At the time of the crash, Laurin, a veteran officer with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), was responding to an emergency call at the Montebello Rockfest to assist a person in distress. While driving his police cruiser at around 180 km/h—double the 90 km/h speed limit on Highway 148 near Papineauville, Que.—he collided with the vehicle carrying Rompré and Bossé.

In a Gatineau courtroom, Justice Gaston Paul Langevin ruled that Laurin's actions were within the bounds of what is considered a reasonable police response. The judge noted that Laurin accelerated to pass another vehicle, believing it was pulling over, but that vehicle, driven by Rompré, suddenly turned left into Laurin’s path.

Laurin’s legal journey has been long. In 2017, he was initially convicted of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm and sentenced to one year in prison. However, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned the conviction the following year, stating that the trial judge had not properly assessed whether Laurin's actions were genuinely dangerous. This led to a retrial in 2019, where Laurin was found guilty of simple dangerous driving. Both the Crown and defence appealed, with the Crown seeking conviction on the original charges and the defence seeking full acquittal. This resulted in the third trial in 2022.

There is a 30-day window for an appeal of Friday’s acquittal.