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Supreme Court Hearings
Her Majesty the Queen v. Sebastien Bouchard
Case# 35690 Her Majesty the Queen v. Sebastien Bouchard (October 16, 2014) The respondent was convicted of second degree murder. At trial the respondent admitted assaulting the victim thereby causing his death. He testified that the victim kissed him in a way that brought back disturbing memories of being sexually assaulted when he was young. As a result the respondent threw the victim to the ground and stomped on him several times. Both individuals were heavily intoxicated at the time of the assault. The responden argued at trial that he should be convicted of manslaughter and not murder. His reasoning for this was that he had been provoked and the crown could not prove his intent to kill. A majority of the court of appeal allowed the appeal from conviction and ordered a new trial. At trial, the judge instructed the jury to adhere to a narrow definition of provocation.