Quebec man seeks bail as 1994 murder conviction likely a miscarriage of justice

MONTREAL — A Quebec man whose murder conviction is being reviewed by the federal government will find out Friday if he can regain his freedom after more than three decades behind bars.

Daniel Jolivet, now 68, was convicted in 1994 of four murders in Brossard, Que., south of Montreal.

In October, the federal government had announced there were reasonable grounds to believe a miscarriage of justice had occurred in his case and that the Justice Department’s criminal conviction review group would investigate.

A bail hearing was held in Montreal on Wednesday in Quebec Superior Court, with Justice Lyne Décarie saying she would rule on Friday afternoon — 33 years after Jolivet was first detained.

During the hearing, Jolivet’s lawyer Nicholas St-Jacques outlined the new evidence that had been discovered over two decades, which had raised concerns about the reliability of the verdict and the fairness of the trial in the 1990s. The evidence at the trial hinged largely on the testimony of an informant, and Jolivet has always maintained his innocence.

The informant had said that the morning after the murders, Jolivet had confessed to him at a restaurant that he had killed the four people to settle scores relating to drugs and stolen merchandise. But the trial didn’t hear that phone records had indicated that Jolivet had been making phone calls at the same time the informant had claimed the accused was confessing at the restaurant.

Those phone records, and other evidence that had not been disclosed to the defence in the 1990s, would have altered Jolivet’s strategy at trial, St-Jacques said.

“You have a rather exceptional situation where the Crown acknowledges that there are issues regarding the disclosure of evidence that could have impacted the fairness of the trial or the verdict,” St-Jacques told the court.

In June, the Crown had said it had reasonable grounds to conclude that Jolivet did not receive a fair and equitable trial and that some of the available evidence had not been disclosed to his lawyer.

Prosecutor Benoit Lauzon had written Jolivet’s lawyer saying he couldn’t conclude that Jolivet was “factually innocent,” but had said that his “claim of a miscarriage of justice is not without merit.”

St-Jacques has said that while his client has acknowledged committing many crimes, Jolivet has denied murdering anyone, even if doing so would have helped him get parole.

Jolivet was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in the November 1992 shooting deaths of two men and two women on Montreal’s South Shore.

Jolivet succeeded in having the initial verdict overturned on appeal, but it was reinstated by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2000. He had tried to have the case reviewed by the federal justice minister, but was denied numerous times.

The Crown has not opposed Jolivet’s request for bail filed earlier this month and did not present any arguments in court on Wednesday. An elaborate bail plan was discussed during the hearing. An apartment has been secured for Jolivet, who will also receive psychological and reintegration help as there will be tasks he’s unfamiliar with after more than three decades in prison.

Jolivet’s former partner and his sister have both passed away and immediate family is limited, but many of his connections are with lawyers and volunteers who are offering their support now, St-Jacques noted.

“Given that he has not committed any disciplinary offences of a violent nature, the fact that he has no criminal record for the last 30 years, and the very robust release plan, I would say that, under the circumstances, it allows me to reassure the court that Mr. Jolivet will not commit any offences and will not pose a risk to public safety if he is released,” St-Jacques said.

Among the elements St-Jacques asked the court to consider in granting bail was the delay in getting a response from the federal justice minister on the review.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press