INDEPTH: BERNARDO
Homolka court appearance - Online diary
CBC News Online | June 2, 2005
Tracey Madigan is CBC.ca's online journalist in Montreal. She was a television and radio reporter before she joined cbc.ca/montreal when it was launched in 1999.
Karla Homolka
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Two days of drama. Karla Homolka's return to the public eye as the clock ticked down on her 12-year manslaughter sentence for her role in the murders of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
Before her scheduled release, Crown prosecutors from Ontario wanted a judge to put restrictions on her freedom – under Section 810 of the Criminal Code. The argument was that Homolka still poses a risk to society.
At the end of two days of testimony, the judge agreed and listed several conditions that Homolka would have to adhere to after walking out of the maximum security prison in Joliette, Que.
CBC online journalist Tracey Madigan was there. The following is what she filed as the case unfolded.
5:24 a.m.
Most of the CBC crews are already on the road to Joliette, which is about 90 kilometres north of Montreal. Reporters, producers, camera operators, sound technicians, satellite co-ordinators, the list goes on.
Although a little groggy, we're all a little eager to see what the day holds in store.
Karla Homolka's hearing will be in room 1.05 of the Joliette courthouse, which can accommodate 48 people.
Seating for that room has been assigned: the attorneys of record, witnesses, security personnel, “persons involved” and their immediate family. And then seats are reserved for one representative of each of 20 media outlets. There are two seats for members of the foreign media.
If there are any seats left, they'll be assigned to members of the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
But there is one other option to catch a glimpse of Homolka live today: there is what is being called a “spillover room,” where a huge screen has been set up, showing the proceeding live in room 1.20.
That room sits 100 people. Fifty of the seats will go to members of the media, the remaining to members of the public.
I am aiming to get a seat in the spillover room. The people handling the set-up at the courthouse say passes are being handed out this morning to those journalists. I'm not sure how many other reporters will be vying for a spot when I get there.
6:15 a.m.
We're here.
Tents are all set up, covering the reporters who are already doing live interviews. They are sitting on stools, and all hooked up, ready to talk about what is happening (not much yet), and what is expected to happen. Throughout the day.
It's actually a beautiful morning to be standing outside.
I'm now standing behind nine people who have already begun to line up at the door of the courthouse.
I'm not sure why we are standing at this particular door. There are no signs of any security guards or other staff who would have pointed us here.
But this is the queue.
6:44 a.m.
It turns out four of the people in front of me in line have very little interest in Karla Homolka after all. They told me they are simply standing in line to hold places for CTV staff who want to get in.
They got here at 9:30 last night. They laughed when I asked whether they were among the lucky few who actually got one of the hotel rooms in town. No, they've been out all night.
They weren't the only ones. CBC's satellite truck got here at 8 p.m. Some of the rest of the crew got here at 2:30 a.m.
Police guard a van carrying Karla Homolka as it enrters a garage at the Joliette courthouse Thursday, June 2, 2005. (CP PHOTO/Paul Chiasson)
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7:06 a.m.
It all happened in a flash.
A crowd of photographers ran for the side door. Cameramen followed. Apparently a group of vehicles, including a van, drove in through the side garage door of the Joliette courthouse.
I'm not quite sure whether Karla Homolka was in one of those vehicles.
None of us are. We didn't dare leave our precious spots in line.
7:37 a.m.
Protesters across from Joliette courthouse
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There are at least 50 people in line now. Mostly journalists, many from Ontario, catching up on news, chatting.
Lots of coffee. Lots of waiting.
Some reporters are interviewing other reporters as part of their reports on the “media frenzy,” I guess.
All par for the course.
Another ingredient whenever the media gathers en masse: protesters. Men came and planted union signs on the tiny patch of grass in front of the courthouse here.
Others hold signs calling for justice for the Duplessis orphans.
Everyone has something to say.
7:50 a.m.
Cars driving by are starting to slow down. Drivers surely wondering, as they begin their day, where this crowd came from.
Little cliques. Cellphones. Blackberries. Newspapers. We all look quite busy. We're not.
8:04 a.m.
Corrections officers did bring in Karla Homolka at 6:52, according to Benoît Richard, spokesperson for the Joliette police.
He says Joliette police led the motorcade, and that the Sûreté Québec was in tow.
In his impromptu press conference, Richard also said that Joliette police don't have many officers working overtime today, that they aren't expecting any security trouble in town.
8:19 a.m.
Tension here in the queue: the doors to the courthouse are going to be opening any minute, and people are coming out of the woodwork – and landing at the front of the line!
A television reporter gave five elderly people a lesson in how lines work. (Does it still count as a lesson if they don't budge?)
So everything is shoulder to shoulder now in front of the door.
Standing firm.
The crowd is full of loud talkers.
The constant groan of huge satellite trucks is almost going unnoticed as everyone waits to be let in. I'm still hoping to get a spot in the overspill room.
8:23 a.m.
Doors are open, security guard with earpiece is holding us all at bay. Now we're in, standing in line for passes to get into room 1.20 – the spillover room.
8:50 a.m.
Well, I got my media pass giving me access to room 1.20, the spillover room.
The media gathers at the Joliette courthouse
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About 50 people are milling about, talking about anything and everything, but certainly not Karla Homolka. About the ambiance here, the process. But not about what we're about to hear.
It's hard to know what to expect – or what it's going to be like to see Homolka again.
I was a journalist in the Toronto area when Paul Bernardo was arrested. People were glued to newscasts. They wanted any and all details from local newspapers.
Here we are, 12 years later. The fascination continues.
The elderly man next to me is from Joliette. He's here as a member of the general public. He's 80, says he's been following this case from the very beginning, and made a point of coming today.
9:07 a.m.
There are actually a lot of empty seats in here.
It is a regular 90s style courtroom, except right where the judge would sit is a large viewing screen. Just like the pull-down ones used to watch home movies, or Powerpoint presentations.
9:27 a.m.
Not many members of the foreign press here after all.
A segment producer for ABC's Good Morning America is here. Mostly for research, I'm told. In case the network ever decides to cover this case. But she is not here with a camera/technical crew: just here for the details.
And the author Stephen Williams is here. A towering man in stature, the dozens of reporters who have followed this case since the beginning no doubt know his work on the Bernardo/Homolka file, and the relationship he has with Karla Homolka.
Proceedings are to begin at 9:30.
9:30 a.m.
We've been read the rules, here in the room, which, as it turns out, is media only. No photos, no video cameras, and any audio recording of the proceeding cannot be broadcast.
Court decorum has sent at least one man home today: he was wearing shorts. The guard told him that that dress was unacceptable.
Lights off in this room. We can now see into the main courtroom via video.
9:48 a.m.
On the screen, we see the lawyers milling about in the other courtroom. Waiting for Judge Jean R. Beaulieu. Waiting for Karla Homolka.
9:50 a.m.
Proceedings begin.
9:52 a.m.
Karla Homolka is in the prisoner's box, dressed in a two-piece pale pink skirt suit. Her hair is below shoulder-length, dirty blonde. Not bleached blonde as it was in most pictures we have recently seen of her.
Nor is it black and short, as the media had reported, when speculating on how she was aiming to change her look for her July release.
10:05 a.m.
Sylvie Bordelais, Homolka's lawyer, says that the restrictions that Québec and Ontario want to place on Homolka are not necessary.
She calls the plea bargain that sent Homolka to prison for 12 years “justified” and says it was fair as long as the two sides held up their ends of the bargain. She explained in French that Homolka has held up her end.
She told he judge “it will be your role to determine whether my client is dangerous.”
10:15 a.m.
The defence has asked the judge to delay the proceedings. All ears hang on the words of the lawyers as they argue whether that request should be allowed.
Homolka is motionless.
All exchanges are in French.
James Ramsay – representing Ontario crown prosecutors – argues that the case cannot be delayed because Homolka's release is imminent.
10:45 a.m.
James Ramsay questions Niagara Regional Police officer Brian Noble. Ramsay asks whether Noble knows what Homolka's address will be upon her release.
Noble says his team suspects she will live in Quebec based on information from inmates and Karla's father, Karel.
Ramsay asks Noble for Homolka's exact name. Noble says Karla's last name was changed to Bernardo when she married Paul.
And that she then had it legally changed to the name of a fictitious serial killer by the name of Thiel. Karla chooses to spell it Teale.
Noble is asked to explain exactly what happened to victim Leslie Mahaffy.
Reading from notes, Noble explains in detail how Mahaffy was kidnapped, raped, killed and how her remains were disposed of by both Homolka and Bernardo.
Homolka's lawyer stands to tell the judge that it is not necessary to hear details of the crimes again.
The judge asks Noble to continue.
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We all wait while Homolka and her lawyer whisper. When Homolka rises to walk the three feet to the edge of the prisoner's box so she can speak to her lawyer, we can all hear the chains on her feet rattle loudly.
They speak for about 45 seconds, and the metal at her ankles is heard again as she returns to her seat at the other end of the prisoner's box.
Noble is asked to explain in the same way the deaths of Kristen French and Karla's younger sister, Tammy.
Homolka's head now hangs. Her bangs cover her face.
She wipes her eyes.
11:03 a.m.
Once again, Homolka's lawyer tries to interrupt the questioning of Noble regarding reports he has gathered on Homolka's psychiatric history.
She argues some details are not pertinent and that what Noble is sharing is his opinion. The judge shoots her down immediately, saying no one is sharing opinion, and that “all is pertinent here.”
The two anglophones continue in French, as Noble reads from a report which says Homolka learned how to speak French during her prison term so as to be able to manipulate prison authorities.
Homolka remains stoic.
11:48 a.m.
Homolka's lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais, continues to question Brian Noble.
The dozens of journalists in this dark room watch the huge screen, and all is quiet except for the odd cellphone ring which is invariably quickly hushed.
But because this is not a courtroom in session, on one or two occasions, reporters allow themselves to comment out loud on the questions and answers.
It sure does feel like a courtroom otherwise. Proof: we were all watching the screen displaying the actual courtroom when the judge entered. The reporter in front of me rose to her feet. We all laughed.
12:50 p.m.
Just before the lunch break, Homolka's lawyer continued to question Brian Noble, trying to raise points to illustrate how, despite the gruesome crimes Homolka committed, she no longer poses a threat to society.
The questions appeared to be designed to remind the judge that Homolka was an abused woman who suffered at the hands of Paul Bernardo.
Bordelais hinted that perhaps Noble was putting the emphasis on only certain psychiatric and psychological evaluations of Homolka that highlight her narcissistic behaviour and her violent tendencies, and was focusing less on reports saying she was victimized by her husband.
But it took her several questions – and several versions of the same question – to drive that point home.
The repetition spawned some groans from the reporters in the spillover room.
Indeed, the tedious details of a court proceeding are not for the faint of heart.
One of the several security guards watching over us remarked that fewer members of the public were in attendnace than expected. A lot fewer. Officials were so well-organized, that crowd control did not become an issue.
Jean Degrandpre, the 80-year-old spectator I mentioned earlier, was happy to break for lunch. He said some members of the public have opted not to come back for the afternoon session. Things were not as interesting as they had expected. But Mr. Degrandpre will be back when the judge returns. At 2:15.
2:30 p.m.
The buzz among reporters over the lunch break is that the proceeding will not only likely continue tomorrow, it might actually go on longer than that.
Homolka is back in the prisoner's box and she takes up just a tiny portion of the huge screen here in the spillover room.
It is difficult to make out her facial expressions. She slouches slightly as she looks on, virtually motionless for long periods of time.
3:21 p.m.
Waiting for the image of the day. Photographers and camera operators are not in the spillover courtroom with their colleagues.
They are waiting in the bright hallways of this window-covered courthouse. Velvet ropes keep them bunched up, with just elbows and lenses jutting out. Lawyers and other players in this process stream by them all at each break.
The courtroom artists are more methodical with their image-grabbing. The artists work with ink and large sketch pads. Marianne, who is sketching the courtroom scene for Toronto's City-TV, says she has completed two full sketches since the morning.
“But because I'm in the overflow room, it's hard, because I can't see a thing,” she says.
Meanwhile, Sylvie Bordelais continues to have Noble go through pages and pages of psychological and psychiatric evaluation, highlighting parts which refer to Homolka as fragile, vulnerable, and whose violent behaviour is linked to Paul Bernardo.
3:55 p.m.
Covering this is really rough, says an anglophone reporter from Toronto. “I'm blind and deaf...I can't see Homolka from the overspill room, and I don't understand French!"
Some English-speaking reporters were surprised to discover that these proceedings are being conducted completely in French. The only Engliish spoken so far are the excerpts of Homolka's evaluation.
A Montreal reporter who landed a spot in the main courtroom, says there's some cross-cultural back-scratching going on: she tells the anglos from Toronto what is being said in French, and they tell her what elements are new to what the public already knows about the case.
Bordelais has now called her own witness: Daniel Cournoyer of the Joliette institution, who says he has known Homolka since the day she came to his prison in 1997.
Bordelais has been referring to her client as Karla Teale.
4:30 p.m.
Homolka has been keenly aware of all of today's proceeding. I'm not sure just how good her French is, but she has been exceptionally attentive today.
She was slouching after the lunch break, watching the back and forth in the courtroom without the slighest of movement.
She didn't even flinch when Ramsay mentioned her friendship with a male prisoner, Jean-Paul Gerbet. Gerbet is serving time for the murder of his girlfriend, Cathy Carretta. Rumours have long flown that Homolka and Gerbet were more than just friends.
No reaction when Ramsay asked the prison official in the witness box if he was aware of the stories of underwear, and what was found in her cell during regular searches. He said he knows nothing of that.
Homolka interrupted the proceeding at one point.
Her lawyer was asking the prison official questions that highlighted what an upstanding prisoner she was.
Homolka managed to get her lawyer's attention (with the help of one of the two guards who share her 12x5 prisoner's box), and walked over to the edge of the box to whisper in her lawyer's ear.
I couldn't hear the chains this time.
Her lawyer then mentioned that Homolka had been allowed out of prison for several medical visits without incident.
The prison official concurred.
But then, upon cross-examination, the crown attorneys drew attention to the fact that although Homolka had, indeed, gone on eight outside visits, she had also been refused five times.
4:45 p.m.
Judge Jean R. Beaulieu has wrapped up proceedings for today.
We'll all be back again tomorrow, to see what life after Joliette will hold for Karla Homolka.
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