In a fit of rage, Faïd A. hits his head against the window of his box. The attorney general has just requested a substantial sentence, this Tuesday, on the second and last day of his trial for the alleged rape in October 2022 of a patient at Cochin hospital in Paris (14th arrondissement). Twelve years of criminal imprisonment, with permanent ban from French territory for this undocumented Jordanian already targeted by four OQTFs. Eleven years, the magistrates of the Paris criminal court finally ruled at the end of the day, a little over two hours after having retired to deliberate. With permanent entry ban.
For Éric Maitrepierre, this particularly brutal rape of an unconscious patient, in an emergency room, had “devastating consequences” on the victim. A “major crime”, which deserves “difficult decisions”, had justified the magistrate. Monday evening, Isabelle (her first name has been changed), 36, described at length, in a striking statement, having “given up” on her “life of carelessness and pleasure”, which “no longer exists today”. today.” After the events, she lost her baby, who died in utero, her relationship broke up, her health was damaged and her social life reduced to nothing.
“739 days ago, the ancient [Isabelle] died on that hospital bed. 739 days that the Machiavellian smile of the accused has haunted her. 739 days, she is waiting for answers,” insisted Me Alexandre Lobry, the victim’s lawyer, in his pleading. “ [Isabelle] has been living in apnea since that night,” added Me Laura Abecassis, the second lawyer for the civil party. “His world used to be full of colors and projects. Every shadow today makes her jump. She now hides her body under loose clothing. »
On the evening of the events, Isabelle, too drunk, had felt unwell while leaving a tavern moored in the 7th arrondissement. She had been transported, unconscious, to the emergency room of Cochin hospital, after a nasty fall on her head. However, the investigation established that Faïd A. was there at the time of this first incident, looking at the young woman lying on the ground “like someone dying of starvation”, according to a witness. An hour later, the man was also evacuated by firefighters to the emergency room of the Paris hospital, after having consumed cocaine, cannabis, and, according to him, alcohol. He had been taken to a box located a few dozen meters from Isabelle's.
For the young woman and her advice, Faïd A. “tracked” her to her box like a “predator”. He allegedly feigned discomfort in order to be taken to her bedside. But “nothing in the investigation allows us to establish this,” the director of investigation said on Monday. This thesis did not convince the public prosecutor either. “How can we think that Faïd A. could construct, in his state, such a plan to find his victim? I have a lot of difficulty finding objective, serious, credible elements to support this thesis,” said Éric Maitrepierre.
In his wake, Me Romain Ruiz, defense lawyer, brandished “the only objective element” allowing in his eyes to “nail the coffin” of these theories: “it is an onlooker, and not Faïd A., who notified the firefighters who took charge of him” and took him to the Cochin emergency room. The Parisian criminal lawyer denounced this “rhetoric of predation that we hear too often in criminal courts”. Following him, Me Clothilde Humbert, the second lawyer for the accused, pounded the “quantum [la durée de la peine] disproportionate” required. She asked the criminal court to pronounce a mixed sentence, with socio-judicial monitoring. “This gentleman needs supervision,” she argued.
