Canada
Defence lawyer Mathieu Rondeau-Poissant leaves the courthouse in Montreal on Sept. 24, 2025. He and former prosecutor Alice Bourbonnais-Rougeau had a secret sexual relationship while they were at opposite ends of pending cases. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
Eight men who were facing cannabis trafficking and money-laundering charges at the Montreal courthouse saw the cases brought against them tossed out on Friday because the lead prosecutor and one of the defence lawyers in the case had an affair.
Superior Court Justice Gregory Moore said while a stay of proceedings should be the last remedy in a trial he could see no other way to handle how former prosecutor Alice Bourbonnais-Rougeau and defence lawyer Mathieu Rondeau-Poissant had a secret sexual relationship while they were at opposite ends of pending cases.
While delivering his decision, Moore mentioned more than a few times Rondeau-Poissant “lied under oath” when he testified last year. Bourbonnais-Rougeau was fired by the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) in November. She also lied about the relationship when her superiors in the DPCP asked her to explain what was going on.
“Most prosecutors respect the high standard of professionalism that is expected of their office. Maitre Bourbonnais-Rougeau did not. She put herself in a conflict of interest situation with one of the lead defence attorneys (in the case), who also put himself in a conflict of interest situation,” Moore said. “There followed a cascade of lies to protect the lead prosecutor, which was detrimental to the applicants’ rights. This prejudices society’s confidence in the integrity of the justice system.
“Every day, for approximately 10 months, (the prosecutor) deprived (David Keith Bishop, 55, of Montreal, the accused represented by Rondeau-Poissant) of the right to make an informed choice about the lawyer that would represent them. Had Mr. Bishop known that his lawyer was sleeping with the prosecutor he may have wanted to fire him as he did in May 2025 and to hire a lawyer with whom he could be confident that his confidential information would be safe.”
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