The word was used by a lawyer for the civil party who did not want to go any further. The defense of the accused speaks of two teams at odds among the investigators, and even at the prosecution. No doubt, the trial has gotten tough.
The third day marked a first turning point in this assize trial. For the first time, we discussed the facts, including the presentation of a judicial police officer who was the director of the investigation on that famous night of March 11 to 12, 2017. He spoke at length in the morning , only interrupted by the civil party and by the general advocate (read our interview with Gaessy Big advice from the complainant elsewhere). We were promised a slightly more busy afternoon because the investigator was to be questioned by the defense lawyers, before the scientific and technical experts replaced him on the stand.
It was muscular
The beginning of the afternoon was instructive, hot one wants to write after having collected the words of those who attended. “Yes, it was muscular. We'll tell you why later. But I understand why the juage of instruction was angry”, slips Anne Cadiot-Feidt, lawyer for the plaintiff, sibylline. Ah good ! His colleague and ally in the civil party camp Grégoire Mouly continues: “At first dand theafternoon, we had continuity concerning the investigator, who continued to explain that Madame had been constant in his statements and that these gentlemen had some contradictions in their propos. Ohas not been placedes questions, as is expected by the défense, who tried to demonstrate that there were perhaps videos that had not been studied, elle began to lay the groundwork for their defense the consent of the lady, the question of the video, and then to try to dismantle the investigation a little, by showing that it had been done completely against him.”
Grégoire Mouly continues with the following remarks: “AOn the contrary, we had elements that I will not provide in full, but from the investigator, who showed us that they had perhaps been protected a little, as part of the investigation.” Protégés ? Get in line! The lawyer resumes. “Yes, mBut I won't go any further on this.” We therefore believe that a tension has emerged in this extraordinary trial: “Oui, on got into the hard part. There is tension between the civil party, the attorney general and the Defense. But that's normal, it's part of the seating game. The trial has really begun, and we are going to get to the end, but in any case, there are important elements that have been presented, in favor of our client, and we will continue to hammer home everything she has said since the beginning.“ We understand that the people responsible for the investigation were really not all in agreement on the follow-up to be given to this investigation and on the interperatation of the facts, but that the party most favorable to the complainant has Ultimately carried away. Despite our questions, the lawyer remained silent.
The defense talks about an investigator who has a failing memory
His colleague, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, advisor to Denis Coulson, gave his version of this afternoon, perhaps richer than one would have believed. She takes her colleague's arguments on the head: “NWe heard from an investigator who had a bit of a faltering memory, because it’s eight years since he carried out his investigation, we can't blame him, and it's been four years since he retired. So, he was not able to answer many questions, but we understood that there were differences within the police services, that not everyone agreed. That is to say that certain police officers contested the video, for them, there was no criminal offense, and he was part of the other team which considered that it was necessary to continue the investigation. And the same on the floor, where there were two completely different opinions. It's not surprising when you have a file that doesn't hold up.”
Philip Fitzgerald, lawyer for Rory Grice, explained that he learned of this fact at the hearing. To summarize, the police do not agree among themselves to the point of thinking of stopping the investigation, the prosecutors are not on the same wavelength. This trial is taking an exciting turn, we have not finished seeing the versions collide and again, the famous video shot by one of the players, a priori Denis Coulson, has not been broadcast. The hearing ended late, at 8:30 p.m. after the testimony of the technical, biological and toxicological experts. Gaessy Gros, lawyer for the civil party, said: “The case has moved forward. An expert told us that we had found traces of blood at the scene of the events. The players will have to explain themselves. And we watched the arrival of the young girl at the hotel. She was not a state capable of consent.” The opposing party did not want to comment on the events at the end of the hearing.
