MONTREAL – A Quebec judge presiding over the case of alleged killer Luka Rocco Magnotta has granted an order that evidence be collected in France and Germany.
Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer ruled today in favour of a Crown motion presented Thursday.
READ MORE: Crown in Magnotta case hopes to question witnesses in Europe
Magnotta’s trial in the May 2012 death of Concordia University student Jun Lin is scheduled to take place this coming September.
VIDEO: Magnotta case update (Feb. 6)
Magnotta left Canada after the alleged murder and went to France and then Germany, where he was arrested in June 2012.
The prosecution wants to talk to more than 30 people in Paris and Berlin.
READ MORE: Luka Magnotta’s confidential academic video interview not for police: judge
Cournoyer says despite the differences in how the justice system operates in those countries, a decision whether to accept the evidence gathered there will be taken once the process is over.
Magnotta’s lawyer argued the witnesses should be brought to Canada to testify at his client’s jury trial.
But a Crown witness has testified there is no way to compel foreign citizens to testify in Canada and no recourse should they agree to testify and simply not show up.
Setting up the process and gathering testimony abroad could take four to six months.
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