Miscellaneous – Justice | Avignon: the assize trial suspended after the accused’s discomfort
At the end of the morning, the trial of Robert, accused of incestuous rape of his daughter Noëlie*, was suspended. Just after the requisitions of the general counsel, asking the jurors to recognize his guilt and to condemn him to 15 years of criminal imprisonment, the septuagenarian collapsed, victim of a malaise. Firefighters arrived and evacuated him to hospital. The hearing has, for the time being, been adjourned until 4 p.m.
The President of the Assize Court has appointed a medical expert who will have to make an assessment and verify whether the state of health of the accused is compatible with the continuation of the trial.
In the best case, the trial could resume tonight or tomorrow morning or Monday at the latest. If his state of health was deemed incompatible, the case could be adjourned to a new session. This dark scenario plunged the civil parties into immense sadness. The main victim, absent because hospitalized in psychiatry, had been able to come to testify yesterday, received permission to leave.
In this case, dating back 40 years, the procedure has already lasted nearly 20 years, after the victim filed a complaint in December 2002.
*The first name has been changed to protect the victim