man on trial for death of six-week-old baby

In the dock, a man suspected of having, through his actions, caused the death of his son, then six weeks old. Interestingly, the case was judged 14 years after the events. The atmosphere was heavy in the Niort courtroom for the opening of this trial.

The child’s mother held little Kean’s stuffed animals in her hands all afternoon. The father in the dock did not make a move.

In December 2009, Kean, six weeks old, was urgently admitted to Poitiers University Hospital. The child is in a coma, he will die 10 days later.

This trial is taking place more than 14 years after the events, becauseThe procedure only began in 2014, after the father’s conviction for domestic violence. He was given a six-month suspended sentence.

The father appears for violence resulting in death without intention of causing it. The experts’ conclusions, delivered in 2016, are formal. They indicate that the child was definitely a victim of shaken baby syndrome. Kean’s mother had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. But she was very tested.

I have to remember everything.

Gaëlle Coatalem

Mother of Kean

On the sidelines of the audience, she tells us: “For 15 years to get to this day, I am forced to remember everything, all the details of every day of Kean’s entire life in order to be able to recite them on the stand as effectively as possible. And so, to go over and over again, all the time, all these details, hearing them from other people, it actually hurts extremely much.“.

As for the defense lawyer, he speaks of a miscarriage of justice. He requested the cancellation of the procedure on the grounds that a reasonable time limit had been exceeded. Request rejected, such as the request for access to the medical file and the postponement of the trial. He mentions a pathology from which the child suffered which would be the cause of his death. He will focus his defense on this point.

“A lot of evidence in this file shows that this child had medical problems from birth, where he was delivered by forceps. And then, we know that by the time he arrived at the hospital, he had chronic bleeding, a chronic subdural hematoma that was more than three weeks old. This is not a violent shaking that would have caused medical problems in this child. There is evidence that his leg was shaking during his 44 days of life. Unfortunately, it’s very tragic, there are children who die very young from illness, this was the case of poor Kean.”

The trial continues until Friday. The accused is under judicial supervision, he appears free.