Fit to Stand Trial

[SLM]

Now this I did not expect but I'm pleased to see she won't get away with it with a "not guilty by reason of". Those kids deserve better than that.

Mom accused of murdering her three kids declared fit to stand trial

By QMI Agency


DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. - Sonia Blanchette, 33, charged in the drowning deaths of her three young children, has been declared fit to stand trial after a month-long psychiatric evaluation.
She faces three charges of first-degree murder, but she has not yet registered a plea.
Blanchette is scheduled back in court on March 28. The report on her evaluation has been sealed and won't be available to the public before her trial.
Blanchette is accused of drowning her three kids -- Anais, 2, Loic, 4, and Lorelie, 5 -- in her Drummondville apartment on Dec. 2. She didn't have custody of the children at the time. They were under the care of their father.
According to a family friend, the children rarely visited their mother, and when they did, the meetings were supervised. Their maternal grandmother would have been supervising the day they died, but was absent when it happened.
Drummondville is located about 100 km northeast of Montreal.

Mom accused of murdering her three kids declared fit to stand trial - Crime - Canoe.ca

 

[Sal]

Now this I did not expect but I'm pleased to see she won't get away with it with a "not guilty by reason of". Those kids deserve better than that.

Mom accused of murdering her three kids declared fit to stand trial

By QMI Agency


DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. - Sonia Blanchette, 33, charged in the drowning deaths of her three young children, has been declared fit to stand trial after a month-long psychiatric evaluation.
She faces three charges of first-degree murder, but she has not yet registered a plea.
Blanchette is scheduled back in court on March 28. The report on her evaluation has been sealed and won't be available to the public before her trial.
Blanchette is accused of drowning her three kids -- Anais, 2, Loic, 4, and Lorelie, 5 -- in her Drummondville apartment on Dec. 2. She didn't have custody of the children at the time. They were under the care of their father.
According to a family friend, the children rarely visited their mother, and when they did, the meetings were supervised. Their maternal grandmother would have been supervising the day they died, but was absent when it happened.
Drummondville is located about 100 km northeast of Montreal.

Mom accused of murdering her three kids declared fit to stand trial - Crime - Canoe.ca

Hm, I didn't know that the supervisor was supposed to be granny. I had assumed that it would have been a social worker.

 

[SLM]

Hm, I didn't know that the supervisor was supposed to be granny. I had assumed that it would have been a social worker.

I remember that from the original news stories published when the children were killed. I for one am very curious to know where she was when this was happening.

 

[Sal]

I remember that from the original news stories published when the children were killed. I for one am very curious to know where she was when this was happening.

If I were her, I can tell you where I would be now... "self committed - nearest mental institute". There wouldn't be enough prozac in the world.

 

[SLM]

If I were her, I can tell you where I would be now... "self committed - nearest mental institute". There wouldn't be enough prozac in the world.

No doubt. Either the mom did some end run around granny to be alone with the kids or granny didn't realize the severity and seriousness of the supervisory aspect of visitation and was lackadaisical about it.

Either way, she'll be torturing herself.

 

[gerryh]

Grandmother should be charged also. Minimum of endangerment if not involuntary manslaughter.

 

[damngrumpy]

gerryh you are only partly right, if she was an appointed supervisor. If it was a voluntary
supervision you are right absolutely. The fact is if she was listed by the social services
department as a supervisor, then she should be charged with murder.
Where was the ministry in all of this did they know about the visit? If so were they supposed
to be involved. If the father relented or he allowed a visit without supervision he too wold be
part of the problem here for putting these kids in harms way. To many unanswered questions
at the moment.

 

[WLDB]

I dont really see people who succeed with an insanity plea as being let off the hook. The only thing that really changes with that is where they are locked up.

 

[gerryh]

I dont really see people who succeed with an insanity plea as being let off the hook. The only thing that really changes with that is where they are locked up.

Really? If you are found not guilty by reason of mental defect, you are hospitalized. If, after 5 years, the doctors have decided that you are no longer a threat to sociiety and your mental condition is "cured" or "controlled" through medication you are eligible for release.

 

[SLM]

gerryh you are only partly right, if she was an appointed supervisor. If it was a voluntary
supervision you are right absolutely. The fact is if she was listed by the social services
department as a supervisor, then she should be charged with murder.
Where was the ministry in all of this did they know about the visit? If so were they supposed
to be involved. If the father relented or he allowed a visit without supervision he too wold be
part of the problem here for putting these kids in harms way. To many unanswered questions
at the moment.

From everything I've read it was court directed supervised visitation only and, for whatever reason, the woman's mother (children's grandmother) was to supervise the visits. She came home and found the children dead. What isn't clear is why she wasn't there. Did the mother pull a fast one and somehow arrange the kids to be there ahead of her own mother? Or did the grandmother shirk her responsibility? If it was the latter, she should be held accountable. A court appointed social worker tasked with supervising would be.

I dont really see people who succeed with an insanity plea as being let off the hook. The only thing that really changes with that is where they are locked up.

The problem as I see it is that the legal definition of insanity does not always mesh with the medical definition. They are not competent to stand trial and get remanded to the mental health system. Once medicated, they often get released. Vince Li? How about Turcotte, he ring a bell? He stabbed his children multiple times five years ago, he walks the streets today. Is that right? In my books, no it isn't. Regardless of whether someone has a legitimate mental illness, they have proven themselves to be dangerous.

We have an astounding gap where people with the capacity to be very dangerous to both themselves or to others are being released either unsupervised or under-supervised. That is a tragedy waiting to happen.

 

[taxslave]

Grandmother should be charged also. Minimum of endangerment if not involuntary manslaughter.

Wouldn't be accessory to murder?

 

[JLM]

Really? If you are found not guilty by reason of mental defect, you are hospitalized. If, after 5 years, the doctors have decided that you are no longer a threat to sociiety and your mental condition is "cured" or "controlled" through medication you are eligible for release.

If so I would hope with very strict conditions. Maybe I'm a bit of an "old woman" over this sort of thing, but I wouldn't sleep for one minute knowing my grandkids were in the care of a "rehabillitated" person who was criminally insane!

 

[WLDB]

Really? If you are found not guilty by reason of mental defect, you are hospitalized. If, after 5 years, the doctors have decided that you are no longer a threat to sociiety and your mental condition is "cured" or "controlled" through medication you are eligible for release.

And thats a big if generally.