A man was shot in the thigh, near a deal point, on the evening of October 12, 2023 in the Mosson district. But before the criminal court, the defense lawyer pointed out the silences and inconsistencies of the civil party, which raise questions about the true course of events.
What happened on October 12 in a stairwell in La Paillade, Montpellier? A man was shot in the thigh but did not say a word about the circumstances of this injury, whether to investigators, the medical examiner or witnesses. On Friday, June 12, he was absent from the hearing at the criminal court. In the dock, the man he named as the shooter claims to have defended himself after being attacked at a nearby drug dealing point. A video, supposedly showing the scene, was attached to the file, but it raises more questions than it answers. Who made it? Where? Can it be time-stamped? Who are the people who appear in it?
Gunshots around 10:30 p.m. near the Grand Mail
So many gray areas that the criminal court wanted to clarify by requesting additional information and postponing the case until October 28. The defendant, aged 39, has a long criminal record. He is currently detained in Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) in connection with another case. On October 12, 2023, it was around 10:30 p.m. when the anti-crime brigade was alerted to gunshots in the Grand Mail, Mosson district. Arriving there, they learned that the victim had been transported by friends to the Beausoleil clinic. Another man is present, angry, shirt open, held by his mother and his half-brother. He holds his left hand in his pocket, “like hiding a weapon”, reminds the president at the audience. Arrested and placed in police custody, the individual explains that he was attacked by young people during a deal. And that once the altercation was over, he followed one of his attackers into a building. It was there that he fired the shot which struck the victim.
“Tissue of lies”
However, video surveillance cameras show that he is still there when the police arrive. “He doesn’t run away. He wants to fight and shouts that he is a victim”, argues his lawyer, Me Cyril Malgras. The latter points out the inconsistencies in the story provided by the victim’s relatives. They say they picked up their friend at the corner of rue de Leyde and avenue de Barcelona. But video surveillance shows that this is not the case. Me Malgras denounces “a web of lies”.
In his pleading, the lawyer for the civil party, Me Emmanuel Pons, considers “derogatory to consider the victim as a trafficker.” He describes the surgical care his client had to undergo and asks for €4,000 as a provision for compensation. The prosecutor, Jean-Christophe Tixier, considers that the attack on the defendant at the point of the deal does not “no doubt” and questions the conditions in which the shot was fired. He nevertheless requests 4 years in prison and a ban on appearing in Montpellier for 5 years.
The defense pleads for acquittal
But the defense lawyer is challenging the civil party. “As for the facts, the victim has no memory. Why not say what happened? Because you are afraid that it will turn against you. Even the friends who took him to the clinic are hiding what happened. It’s good that you have something to reproach yourself for! Maybe the bullet he received was going to put it in his trunk!”he says, pointing to his client. “You’ll have no trouble getting him to relax. If anyone is unclear in this story, it’s the one who’s missing.”
After deliberation, the court requested additional information about the video shown at the hearing, in order to identify its author, its location, its timestamp, and the people who appear on it. Pending the hearing on October 28, the defendant is placed under judicial supervision with a ban on contact with the victim.
