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Alexandre Bissonnette, the man responsible for the Quebec City mosque shooting will learn his sentence in the new year.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder after he walked into a mosque in the provincial capital on Jan. 29, 2017 and opened fire.

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The judge must decide between consecutive or concurrent sentences, which means Bissonnette could serve life in prison without eligibility of parole for 150 years. That would be a first in Canada.

Last month, Judge François Huot said he needed more time to make his decision.

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On Wednesday morning, the Quebec Superior Court judge heard more arguments from the Crown and defence lawyers about whether it is constitutional to hand down that long of a sentence.

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Defence lawyer Charles-Olivier Gosselin has argued that Section 745.51, added to the Criminal Code in 2011, contravenes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects citizens from cruel and unusual treatment.

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Huot’s decision will set a precedent for future cases involving multiple murders. Huot also asked Crown attorney Thomas Jacques if he thought serial killers and hired assassins deserved heavier sentences than mass murderers.

Jacques replied that he did not think a judge should consider that a person convicted of a mass shooting has less culpability than a person convicted of multiple murders over a longer period of time.

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