It is a media trial which opened this Wednesday morning at the Melun criminal court, that of Pierre Palmade. The comedian is being prosecuted for causing a road accident in February 2023. He was then driving under the influence of drugs. In the car he hit, three people were seriously injured : a 38-year-old man, his 6-year-old son and his sister-in-law who was 6 months pregnant and who had lost her baby following the shock.
Faced with the civil parties, it was a frozen man who presented himself for the first day of his trial. Pierre Palmade is now abstinent. His face is less livid but he is tested, almost paralyzed during the three hours of hearing. The comedian listens, gaze fixed on the ground, to the lawyer of the civil party demand from the court that the debates be extended to involuntary manslaughter for the unborn babydied due to the accident. A request rejected.
Physical and mental after-effects for the victims
Pierre Palmade looks up when Yuksel, who was driving the hit car, gets up with difficulty. He follows him with his gaze as he walks up to the bar, a crutch in his right hand, his left arm in a sling. This robust man talks about his life afterward. A life of pain and medicationbut also that of his son, psychologically monitored.
It was then the turn of his sister-in-law, also in the hit car. She tells of a miracle pregnancy, the move because she needed something bigger, then this black hole and denial. At the hospital, she convinces herself that her daughter is only sleeping. Her baby, whom she was able to hold in her arms, is finally buried. Two months ago, the young woman had another little girl, whom she loves but cannot hold in her arms. In the second row, his loved ones accompany his tears.
This Wednesday afternoon, Pierre Palmade, in turn, spoke. He came back to the circumstances leading up to the accidentof which he says he has no memory, and his years of drug addiction. The comedian also spoke directly to the victims for their “ask for forgiveness from the depths of your being“. He faces up to 14 years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 euros.
