Quebec judge formally recognizes death of publisher Michel Brule

Publisher Michel Brule’s death in Brazil confirmed Quebec publisher Michel Brule was awaiting sentencing for sexual assault when he died in Brazil.

Montreal — A Quebec judge has formally recognized the death of publisher Michel Brûlé, who died last May in Brazil while he was waiting to be sentenced on sexual assault charges.

Brazilian media reported in the spring that the 56-year-old had died during an apparent cycling collision in the southeastern city of Guarapari, Brazil, about 500 kilometres north of Rio de Janeiro. He had been living there at the time with his brother.

Justice Sébastien Proulx of the Court of Quebec authorized a stay of proceedings in the case Tuesday morning after official documents were formally brought forward confirming Brûlé’s death.

In October 2020, Brûlé was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in 2014 when she was at his house to review a manuscript.

The standard procedure after an accused dies while waiting sentencing is to submit official evidence of death, said Patricia Johnson, a spokesperson for the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), in a statement to CTV News.

“This procedure is the same in every case when such situation occurs,” the spokesperson said. “In Mr. Brûlé’s case the delay can partly be explained by the fact that his death occurred abroad.”

He missed his last court appearance, a sentencing hearing, which was set to be done via teleconference after he had claimed he couldn't fly back to Canada to appear in person due to apparent travel-related COVID-19 restrictions. An arrest warrant had been issued before news of his death was revealed.

Brûlé launched an appeal of the 2020 conviction which also had not been been heard in court before his death.