The former gendarme, implicated in the death of Loïc Louise on November 3, 2013 in La Ferté-Saint-Aubin, is now determined on his fate. He was sentenced this Tuesday to two years suspended prison sentence and is prohibited from possessing a weapon. A month ago, during this trial for “involuntary manslaughter”, the prosecution requested a lower sentence: a one-year suspended prison sentence for this 36-year-old man, who is no longer in the gendarmerie. .
On November 3, 2023, the PSIG, the specialized Orléans platoon, was called to La Ferté-Saint-Aubin for an evening that was getting out of hand. To calm down one of the participants, Loïc Louise, 21, a Reunionese studying in Orléans, the soldier in question had used his taser gun and fired for 17 seconds. The young man then collapsed.
A cause and effect link between the shooting and the death of Loïc Louise
During the investigation, the experts were unable to establish “direct causation”. According to them, his death was due to asphyxia, itself due to cardiovascular disease. Several aggravating elements have been established: high alcohol consumption (2.2 grams of alcohol per liter of blood), a state of significant excitement and possibly also, the electric shocks from the taser.
During the trial, the prosecutor estimated that there had been “excessive use of the taser which played a role in the death of Loïc Louise. This Tuesday, the court judges that the former gendarme made a “qualified mistake” and believes that there is a cause and effect link between the Taser shot and the death of Loïc Louise.
The former policeman appeals
For Loïc Louise's family, this decision is a “immense relief“, according to their lawyer, Maître Fabrice Saubert. “I spoke to Loïc's dad on the phone, I felt that he was breathing again, after eleven years.” “As a civil party, we fought, not for Loïc because it is too late for him, but for the others“, adds the family lawyer. “So that it can open the eyes of the public authorities, the police and the gendarmes who are brought weapons which can take them to court and have them convicted.”
On the defense side, it’s surprise that counts. “It's a misunderstanding decision, so obviously we're not going to stop there.“, declares Master Laurent-Franck Liénart, lawyer for the defendant. “Three expert reports say that there is no correlation between the death of this person and his exposure to the taser. And yet the court enters into the process of sentencing because there is a deceased person and there must be a guilty party“, he continues adding that his client is appealing this decision.
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