A sixty-year-old, former executive at the Rodez hospital, is being tried by the criminal court for raping one of his former spouses in 2017. He denies the facts. Verdict expected this Friday, November 22.
Will the five magistrates of the departmental criminal court form an intimate conviction, like the oath they usually make to popular jurors in the Assize Court? Or will the doubt benefit the accused, as the law requires? Since Thursday, November 21, questions have been open in the debates on a rape case. A trial where, once again, the words of one clash with those of the other. First there is that of “Madame”, a Ruthenian retiree with a “reserved”. In 2017, she denounced acts of rape.
And provides many details. A year earlier, as part of her work, she met Philippe C., a man in the position of senior manager at the Rodez hospital. All of them are widowers and still suffering from the loss of their first love. Pain alleviated, so to speak, by the consumption of antidepressants. They also share common passions, such as walking. In short, the relationship quickly becomes extra-professional. Dinners at a restaurant lead to the first sexual relations. It's December 2016. He wants to move quickly into this new romance, talks about marriage, buying a house. She is more cautious. “Am I your companion or your life companion”, he likes to repeat to her. The violins don't really agree and several breaks occur. “One loved the other, then the other loved one,” summed up a friend of the couple.
Rape in the bedroom
Still, at the end of summer 2017, on August 17 exactly, the two decided to meet at a restaurant. It’s an opportunity to celebrate “Madame’s” 58th birthday. The champagne is out, we toast. Everything seems to be going well. But while “Monsieur” has to take “Madame” home, he suddenly changes his mind. According to the latter's account, he heads, at full speed, towards her home… She shows him her refusal and even tries to get out of the vehicle. In vain. Arriving in the Saint-Félix district where he lives, he then took him by the arm and the hair and took him to his room. There, she says she was raped. She screamed, but no one heard, not even the gentleman's son, who was playing video games with his headphones on, a few meters from this room… She also said she tried to escape through a French window. of the room. Assures him that it was “a sexual game” between them. And above all that the relationship was consensual.
“I'm exhausted”
He repeated it forcefully on Thursday in court: “I'm exhausted, I've been accused of this rape for 7 years that I didn't commit! I can't take it anymore, it eats away at my mind every day.” Accompanied by his new partner, this dry man, a heavy smoker, now lives in Clermont-Ferrand. He assures that after this long procedure “where we did not hear him”, he is looking forward to “the verdict”. It must fall today.
In the meantime, the court mainly focused on the reports of expert psychiatrists and psychologists. Four testified. And everyone gave “credit” to the story of the complainant, a woman “who presents all the post-traumatic symptoms of a victim of sexual assault”. They also painted an inglorious portrait of the accused: a “narcissistic” man, presenting “paranoid” traits fueling in him “an anxiety of abandonment and an impossible breakup which could lead to chaos”… They also questioned themselves about alcohol consumption that evening. Because just two years ago, it triggered anger in the sixty-year-old: he was convicted of domestic violence against one of his partners. “I pushed him and I admit it,” he did not hide, while frantically taking notes on the debates.
For the defense lawyer, “a totally incriminating investigation”
And listening attentively to the numerous observations of his counsel, Me Cedric Galandrin. While waiting for his plea, the latter has already denounced “a totally incriminating investigation”, to the point of creating a stir among the police major, in charge of this case at the time and called to the stand to testify: “I didn't know that it was my trial today”, she got annoyed on the stand, while the lawyer questioned her, among other things, about the absence of a neighborhood investigation in this case… At the end day, he also pointed out several exculpatory evidence for her client: the complainant assured that before the sexual relationship, he had shown her an analysis result on STDs – “Do you know a lot of rapists who take the time to do that?” –, she also initially filed a handrail before finally filing a complaint. This time, it was the president, François-Marie Cornu, who said he was… “surprised”.
