A judge in St. Jerome has rejected a self-defence argument from a man recently convicted of stabbing another motorist in a suspected case of road rage in Terrebonne.
The incident happened on July 22, 2016 on Highway 25 in Terrebonne, not long after the man's SUV got into a minor collision with the victim's trailer.
Judge Kathlyn Gauthier said the motorist, Daniel Brunelle, chose to get out of his car with a knife in hand, unable to control his rage, when the confrontation with the other driver happened in a nearby Terrebonne parking lot.
Brunelle, 55, had insisted the other motorist was aggressive, and "accidentally" came in contact with the blade of his knife — and argument the judge quickly rejected.
The victim, François Fugère, suffered five stab wounds on his left side. The knife blade reached his lung, intestine, kidney, elbow and collarbone, and spent six weeks in hospital recovering — during which time he underwent no less than eight separate operations. He also went partially blind in one eye from a bacterial infection that made its way through his bloodstream.
Fugère's 15-year-old son looked on as the confrontation happened.
Sentencing arguments are scheduled to take place in March.