Legal proceedings got underway at the Palais de Justice de Laval earlier this week to determine if a high-risk offender status should be imposed on a 53-year-old former STL bus driver previously found not criminally responsible for killing two children and injuring six others while driving a Laval city bus into a daycare in February two years ago.
Former bus driver Pierre Ny St-Amand was declared not criminally responsible after a Superior Court Justice accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence that he was probably psychotic and unable to determine right from wrong when he crashed the bus.
Earlier this week, Ny St-Amand was present in the courtroom, not handcuffed, but inside a secured area where he listened during the hearing.
Members of families with children from the daycare were also present.
Being declared a high-risk offender would mean that Ny St-Amand would be held at a psychiatric facility under strict conditions, especially as regards temporary leaves or absences.
The judge hearing testimony set aside one week for arguments from prosecutors and the defence.
The defence has said it will challenge whether the high-risk offender status is constitutional.
