More than 18 months ago, Pierre Palmade lost control of his car and hit two vehicles, in one of which was a six-month pregnant woman who lost her baby. A baby at the heart of the debates, who died in uterowhich justice therefore did not consider at this stage to be a living being.
Pierre Palmade is on trial on Wednesday November 20 in Melun for involuntary injuries and not for involuntary homicide, although requested by the prosecutor. Justice considers that a baby who dies in utero does not have the legal status of being alive.
A case which is not isolated since it is precisely the fight Angélique and Valentin, they too lost their baby during a road accident. Her parents want recognition of the existence of their little girl. In their living room, the little girl seems to be in the middle of the room. Her first name, Jade, is engraved in capital letters in pink wood. Stuffed animals and small toys are placed on the furniture.
An accident on the road to the maternity ward
The date July 28, 2023 hangs on the wall, which must have been the happiest day of their lives, but on the way to the maternity ward, a woman in her sixties who was driving in the wrong direction collided with the couple in the car. “For my part, I had minor bruises. For Angélique, it was more complicated,” says Valentin.
“I suffered several fractures and mainly the loss of our daughter,” explains the mother. “She gave me an echo and a monitoring. There was a part of me that knew. After the shock, I felt heavy. It crossed my mind, but I told myself it wasn't possible. I saw my daughter, I saw that her little heart was no longer beating,” she says between sobs. “Besides that, the fractures and everything. There's nothing that can hurt more than this“.
A faulty jurisprudence?
Parents refuse to consider their unborn baby as a fetus; for them, it is a child they have lost. “We were still at 40 weeks, full term. Telling us that our daughter is a fetus, no. We had him in our arms,” says Valentin. “It’s a 48 cm baby, weighing more than 3 kg, who was in perfect health, who was just waiting for us and we were waiting for her,” adds Angelic.
However, according to case law, manslaughter cannot be recognized for a baby who has not yet breathed, even for a baby who is about to be born. “It’s completely an injustice in fact that we are being told under the pretext that she didn’t breathe, she’s nothing. She took our daughter's life and she will never be judged for what she actually did.. Our daughter does not matter more, for example, than a fracture,” insists the child’s father.
The Pierre Palmade affair, which took place before the couple's accident, had already had a great impact on Angélique: “I will remember that moment all my life, because I was on a dinner table. kitchen, and I put myself in this mother's place, she says, I said to myself, but how she will manage to recover from the loss of her childof all the injuries caused by a person in addition to drugs? I was actually speechless. I said to myself, I really wouldn't like to be in his place and several months later, here I am.“
The trial which opens this Wednesday, November 20, will be closely followed by the two parents who hope to see things change or at least open the debate on this case law.
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