A defendant in great pain and under treatment appears for a repeat theft. In view of his psychiatric state, the question of benefiting from the criminal sanction was seriously raised.
The lawyer leans towards the box into which a man has just entered. The handcuffs have just been removed and immediately his arms are jerking continuously. ” Are you doing well ? You’re shaking a lot, have you had your treatment for schizophrenia? » The defendant nods his head. “Do you remember why we’re here?” You broke a car window and took some sunglasses…unfortunately, it’s business as usual. » The man looks lost, his council tries to reassure him in a patient but firm voice. “If things don’t go well during the hearing, you say so! »
Mr. D.’s arms are constantly trembling as if agitated by invisible threads, his mouth is shaken by a spasm that he cannot control. He is around fifty years old. While he is already serving a twelve-month sentence, he appears before the 16e criminal chamber of the Nanterre judicial court for a theft with repeated damage, committed in February 2024 in Levallois-Perret.
“He realizes that he needs support”
It was police officers on surveillance in the north-west of Paris who saw him and arrested him when he had just passed an SUV, had broken the window, searched inside and left with a bag. To the judge who questioned him to understand the reasons for this theft, the defendant replied that he was schizophrenic:
– “Voices are telling me to do this. They tell me that I will find money. It’s my imagination.
– Do you have an addiction? Drugs, alcohol?
– Yes, a lot. »
Mr. D. is under guardianship, he is also undergoing antipsychotic treatment. According to an expert who examined him, he is well aware of his disorder. Despite a risk of relapse and acting out, she did not detect any alteration or abolition of judgment, nor any danger. Another psychiatric assessment was carried out at the request of the defense and indicated numerous disorders linked to paranoid schizophrenia. The lawyer insists on the fact that Mr. D. is only partially accessible to a criminal sanction.
However, he has nine mentions in his criminal record. Mr. D. rocks from one foot to the other, while his curator steps up to the stand: “We have rather pleasant contacts with Mr. D., he is easy to get along with, I did not feel any discomfort. ‘aggressiveness. He realizes that he needs support. »
In the past, Mr. D. worked a little in construction, he now receives a disabled adult allowance. The judge is particularly interested in his addictions, the large doses of alcohol he took daily, his consumption of crack. In detention, he no longer touched anything. “Are you feeling much better, sir?” », questions the judge in a cheerful tone. Mr. D. pointedly shrugs his shoulders. “What do you want me to tell you?” It’s much better,” he retorts without convincing anyone, least of all himself.
“It’s not a good idea to have him appear in this state”
Pre-trial detention concerning acts of violence against his ex-partner for which he will appear the following week, a twelve-month sentence handed down in July supposed to be fitted with an electronic bracelet… The prosecutor insists on the fact that the recent elements do not play into the favor of Mr. D: “What is complex is his personality. He commits a lot of offenses,” worries the public prosecutor, who wants to take into account his psychiatric state. How to do without a stable domiciliation? An external placement could be the solution according to the prosecutor, which requires eight months of imprisonment.
In Mr. D.’s defense, the thefts or damage which he seems to be accustomed to occur precisely during a break in treatment. “That doesn’t excuse sir, but it explains the consistency. » But does adding eight months to the current sentence make sense? Even with an outdoor placement arrangement? “We keep him in detention and we hand the baby over to the sentencing judge who is not at all overloaded,” she quips. “It is not a good idea to bring him to trial in this state, nor to detain him in this state. We must treat him, reintegrate him, not keep him in detention. What is needed is hospitalization. » Mr. D.’s last words do not go in any other direction: “My place is not in prison, it is in a medical center that I want to be monitored. Prison is no good. I’m getting out of it, I’m going to go to crack. There are plenty of people behind me who want me to get through this. »
The judge finally pronounces a sentence of four months’ imprisonment without a committal warrant and with an adjustment at the discretion of the JAP, taking into account the alteration of discernment. “That’s good news,” rejoices the lawyer who turns to Mr. D. to explain the verdict.
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