after 33 years in prison, quebecer convicted of four murders vows to prove innocence in new trial

a quebecer who spent more than 30 years in prison for four murders he swears he did not commit has been granted a new trial by canada's justice minister.in a statement released friday, justice minister sean fraser said he has ordered a new trial for daniel jolivet after he found "reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in mr. jolivet’s 1994 conviction.""our responsibility is to make sure canadians can trust their justice system," fraser said. "and that means, in rare cases, returning cases to the courts for new information to be considered.”

jolivet was convicted in 1994 of murdering four people in brossard. he was released from custody last december pending a review of his conviction, which has now resulted in a new trial.speaking to reporters in montreal, jolivet said he looks forward to being tried a second time because he will finally be able to demonstrate his innocence.standing outside the montreal courthouse, jolivet proudly held the letter signed by the minister of justice informing him he is entitled to a new trial. “i am going to frame this,” jolivet told reporters with tears in his eyes.his lawyer, nicholas st-jean, said the decision to order a new trial is relatively rare, adding the federal justice minister tends to only intervene in about one or two cases a year, either by ordering a new trial or asking a provincial appeals court to take a second look at a case. although jolivet has not been in custody since december, “things haven’t exactly been rosy, let’s just say, because it was constantly on my mind,” he said, sobbing.added st-jean: “he'd call me sometimes, saying, ‘i’m crying — i don't understand why i'm crying. you guys took care of everything for me.’“being incarcerated for 33 years leaves very deep wounds. and daniel is going to have a lot of work to do on himself because he’s been fighting the justice system all these years, and now he’s going to have to fight his own demons.”for people who have been wrongfully convicted and spent a big chunk of their life behind bars, st-jean said that in addition to regaining freedom, it’s important on a psychological level for a judge to tell him that he is not guilty.“he wants the public to know that he is innocent. he wants the recognition by a judge that he's acquitted,” st-jean said. “he hasn't had a fair trial. disclosure was not done properly. a lot of pieces of evidence were not provided to the defence during his trial.”quebec's prosecution service, the directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, said it plans to review the case with police before deciding whether to prosecute jolivet a second time."over the coming months, the dpcp will conduct an exhaustive analysis of the available evidence in order to determine, in particular, whether proceeding with the case is in the public interest," spokesperson lucas bastien wrote in an email, adding that the review will be conducted in accordance with the directives that currently apply. bastien, who is also a prosecutor, said the minister's decision takes the case back to where it was before jolivet's first trial and he is once again legally considered innocent until proven guilty. fraser's statement noted the "decision to order a new trial is not a decision about the guilt or innocence of the applicant. it is a decision to return the matter to the courts where the new relevant legal issues may be determined according to the law."outside the courthouse, an emotional jolivet profusely thanked the legal experts who fought for him and the investigative journalists who found documents not used in the original trial.jolivet says he plans to go fishing, adding he keeps his fishing permit in his pocket.“i will take care of myself. i have a follow-up with a psychiatrist. and let's hope everything is gonna be fine.”lschertzer@postmedia.com