Trial of ex-Grenoblois accused of “gang rape” – What the elements of the procedure contain

This Monday, December 2, the so-called “ex-Grenoblois” trial will open at the Bordeaux Assize Court: five former FCG players indicted for acts of “crime of rape in a meeting” for three of between them (Denis Coulson, Loïc Jammes and Rory Grice), “crime of failure to assist a person in danger” for the last two (Dylan Hayes and Chris Farrell).

These accusations date from Sunday March 12, 2017 in the morning, the day after the Top 14 match between Union Bordeaux-Bègles and FC Grenoble. “The Bordeaux police officers were informed by the mother of a young woman aged 20 that the latter had been the victim of a rape committed by several members of the Football Club Grenoble Rugby (FCG) team, facts which allegedly took place the previous night in a room in a hotel in Mérignac, where the players were staying after their defeat against the Bordeaux rugby team.” poses as a preamble to the judicial press kit published this Wednesday, in the “procedural elements” section. He then goes into detail about this case, the procedure of which, lasting more than seven years and several postponements, is entering its final phase: the judgment

The complainant’s “extremely advanced” state of intoxication

Throughout the description, we understand a little better what could have happened on that night of March 11 to 12, 2017, in Bordeaux. We also touch on the positions of the different protagonists. That of the complainant, first of all, aged 20 at the time. “The young woman explained that she had spent the evening with two friends and several members of the FCG team whom they had met in a pub. This evening continued in a nightclub located on the quays of Bordeaux. She said she did not have any memory between the moment when she drank vodka and danced in the disco, and the moment when she regained consciousness, lying naked on a bed, surrounded by several men and having the impression of being penetrated by an object metallic It indicated. drank alcohol during the evening, but never felt drunk.”

However, the subject of alcohol is very central, linked to the question of consent which will be the keystone of this affair. “The investigating chamber finally ordered the referral of all those indicted to the Assize Court, noting in particular that the testimonies collected and the analysis of the hotel videos demonstrated without any ambiguity that, Given his extremely advanced state of intoxication, the civil party was not in a position to consent to a sexual act. concludes the communication of procedural elements.

This is obviously not the version that the players pleadede in front of the Bordeaux police officers, more precisely the Family Protection Brigade, during the placements in police custody on March 22, 2017, then on April 11, 2017. They assure that sexual relations and meetings are very real, but that they were consented to. “They disputed the facts, unanimously declaring that the complainant had not suffered any coercion and that she had been enterprising.” The two “witnesses” of the scene, Dylan Hayes et Chris Farrell, indicted for failure to assist a person in danger, validated this version. “One of them indicated that he was present in the room when the complainant had sexual intercourse with one of the players. According to him, she made sexual noises demonstrating her consent. The second indicated that at the time of the events, he had a broken ankle, that he was in a lot of pain and that he was confused. He did not realize that the complainant was in distress. He did not see any obvious signs that she was not consenting.”

Penetrations with a banana, a bottle…

These divergent versions were maintained by both parties throughout the seven years of proceedings. And that will be the whole point of this trial, to define the notion of consent in such a case. Because the facts which took place in the hotel room in this Bordeaux suburb do not seem to be subject to any dispute. They are corroborated by scientific evidence, always judging by the procedural elements. “The events took place in the room occupied by two of them, one of whom, injured during the match, was moving around on crutches, had witnessed the events. Another player from the team, had witnessed part of the scene was made by one of the players who had sexual intercourse, arguing that the complainant was consenting. In particular, the young woman was seen being penetrated by one of the players. with a plastic bottle and a banana.”

There is also this crutch, which would have been used as an object of penetration. What the complainant described in her initial statement as “the feeling of being penetrated by a metallic object”. On this subject again, there seems little room for doubt. In the procedural elements report, we can read: “A genetic expertise made it possible in particular to find the genetic profile of the civil party on the crutches used by the injured player. One of the accused admitted to having used one or even two crutches to touch the genitals of the complainant.”

A number of details, sometimes sordid, which could constitute a number of aggravating circumstances, if the absence of consent were indeed recorded and the rape proven.