The singer Luck Mervil was found guilty of sexual assault, 25 years after having drugged and then raped a 19 -year -old woman in a hotel room in Rimouski after a show.
“There is no reasonable doubt about his guilt. It is clear in the spirit of the court that the victim experienced a sexual assault that evening, “said judge James Rondeau in his decision made Thursday morning.
Luck Mervil’s trial, accused of sexual assault, was held last February. The victim had described an evening of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cauchemardesque and humiliating. According to his story, the artist, met in a Rimouski bar, had drugged her and then raped in a hotel room on the night of June 23 to 24, 2000.
Luck Mervil had denied everything in his testimony. The accused believed that the complainant had made mistakes on the person. The ex-singer of the Rudeluck group, among others known for its performance in the musical Notre-Dame de Parishad even appointed several examples of black Quebec celebrities with whom he was often confused at the time of aggression.
Drug addict without his knowledge and raped
The facts date back to June 23, 2000. Maude* was then 19 years old. She joins her friends in a popular Rimouski bar, where the party is in full swing. She comes across Luck Mervil and the two start a cordial discussion. The artist is in Rimouski, since he participated in a show for the feast of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The young woman immediately recognizes the singer, at the top of her glory at the time.
She puts her beer near Luck Mervil to go dancing with her friends.
His nightmare begins on the dance floor. Dizzy and nauseating, Maude has the strange impression of losing contact with reality. When she resigned herself to going to the bathroom, she feels the presence of an unknown person.
She leaves the bar and wakes up in a hotel room. And there, a vision of horror: Luck Mervil is above her penetrating it. He explains with it that they have had sex for an hour. He even comments on his hair during the assault.
Maude does not have the strength to repel him or react to this comment that she describes in her testimony to the court as “heinous and degrading. »»
She is helpless, incredulous, desperate. “I was waiting for it to finish. I did not have the strength to struggle, ”she said to the trial.
She vomits on the carpet of the room. The singer renews it by car, as if nothing had happened.
The little credible accused, according to the judge
The attacker had denied having met a woman in Rimouski. It was improbable that he was with the victim in the toilet of a bar, he stressed during his trial. “I am not a rooter of the toilet. Already it smells bad toilets. I am very disdainful. »»
His brother Pierre Mervil had also testified. He accompanied his brother the day of the show of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. He even explained that he and the accused were often confused with each other.
The Rondeau judge strongly skinned the “imprecise in many ways” account of the fallen singer. Most of his answers to the questions were assumptions and deductions, he said.
No error on the person
The Rondeau judge completely rejected defense theory, according to which the victim had made mistakes on the person.
“During these years, Mr. Mervil was well known because of Notre-Dame de Paris. He was everywhere, ”said Maude during her testimony on the first day of the trial in February.
She recalled that at that time, there were few black people in Rimouski.
Luck Mervil was a good celebrity in sight in the 2000s: he released an eponymous album, plays a role in an ultra -popular musical, occurs around the world, in Montreal in London.
Luck Mervil had explained to the court that he was often confused with other black artists, such as Anthony Kavanagh or Grégory Charles.
The victim certainly recognized Luck Mervil, decided the Rondeau judge. And the musician indeed raped her. “She did not have her full ability to do anything. She has memory holes, a total blackout that she connects to the drugs that was poured into her beer, “he added on Thursday.
She denounces her attacker more than twenty years after the fateful night. Years to suffer in silence.
“I preferred to be silent because I was too shame,” said the victim in his testimony.
In 2018, a report involving Luck Mervil plunged him into his painful memories. In 2023, he made headlines again. “This is what rekindled my desire to file a complaint. »»