tragic accident, fatal addiction and “media whirlwind”

When the public prosecutor of Melun Jean-Michel Bourles was alerted that a traffic accident had occurred on a road under his jurisdiction, it was already dark on February 10, 2023. It was 6:45 p.m. and the magistrate was busy to pick up his sons from climbing, but he knows that the weekend’s schedule is going to be turned upside down. This is not a pileup like any other: a motorist involved is one of the most popular comedians in France, Pierre Palmade. In nearly thirty years of career, the magistrate has already had to deal with high-profile cases, the Nice attack when he was at the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office, the case of this football player arrested for excessively speeding or this former athletics champion converted into a robber. But never such amedia soap opera», he recalls from his office overlooking the RER rails linking Melun to Paris. “I’m like a station manager», he smiles. Next Wednesday, the Transilien will transport dozens of journalists who have come to attend the trial of Pierre Palmade judged for “unintentional injuries”. The epilogue of an affair which has become, due to the personality of the author, a media obsession.

Solin, 6 months pregnant, death at 10:51 p.m.

When help arrives on departmental road 372 near the town of Villiers-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne), three vehicles can be seen in the darkness. Two were badly damaged, with the entire front end destroyed and the airbags triggered. Moans…