Five years in prison, two of which were closed, were requested, Wednesday, November 20, by the prosecution against Pierre Palmade, tried for aggravated involuntary injuries, after the serious car accident caused under drugs in February 2023, in Seine-et- Marl. The prosecution also requested a deferred committal warrant, allowing the comedian not to be directly incarcerated after the deliberation, scheduled for several weeks.
“We cannot be too lenient when the damage has occurred and driving under the influence of drugs has caused a tragedy”estimated the prosecutor, Marie-Denise Pichonnier. On February 10, 2023, the comedian took the wheel to go shopping, after several days of partying and unbridled drug consumption. His car collides with a vehicle coming in front. In addition to the actor, the accident left three seriously injured: a 38-year-old man, his 6-year-old son and his 27-year-old sister-in-law, who lost the baby she was expecting.
At the opening of his trial, Pierre Palmade said to himself “overwhelmed” by the serious physical and psychological injuries caused to the victims. “The serious injuries of Mr. Y. and the trauma of Mr.me C., it knocked me down. I am truly overwhelmed, tested to see them in real life”declared the 56-year-old artist during his first words on the stand. Turning towards the benches of the civil parties, his hand on his stomach, he addressed them directly for their “ask for forgiveness from the deepest [s]we be ».
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At the end of the judicial investigation, the investigating judge referred Pierre Palmade to the Melun Criminal Court in May on the sole charge of involuntary injuries, aggravated by the use of drugs. She did not retain the qualification of involuntary homicide, which the prosecution had requested for the loss of the fetus, considering that this question, at the confluence of bioethics and law, deserved a “debate before the trial court”.
“I am dangerous”
Following the accident, the unborn child was urgently extracted by cesarean section from his mother's womb, at six months of pregnancy. He was declared dead after thirty-two minutes of resuscitation, without having given any sign of extrauterine life. However, according to consistent case law from the Court of Cassation which has ruled on similar cases of road accidents, a child who is not born alive does not exist as a legal person. “The strict interpretation of the criminal law does not authorize the repression and therefore prosecution of acts of manslaughter in the case of a child who was not born alive, which is the case” in the Palmade case, estimated the investigating judge in her order for referral to the criminal court, consulted by Agence France-Presse.
At the end of a February day, Pierre Palmade had a large quantity of cocaine and 3-MMC (a synthetic drug) in his blood when he got behind the wheel with two other men, who were not prosecuted. On the departmental 372 near Villiers-en-Bière, the Peugeot 3008 of its production company veered into the oncoming traffic lane and collided head-on with the Renault Mégane of the Y. family, which was arriving in the opposite direction.
Read the interview with Pierre Palmade (2019): Article reserved for our subscribers “I want to get away from my demons”
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The artist says he has no memories of the accident. “Pierre Palmade committed a driving error when he suddenly turned the steering wheel, causing his vehicle to drive in the wrong direction”nevertheless concluded the investigating judge. The injured family members are still suffering the physical and psychological after-effects of the accident.
During his first interrogation before the investigating judge, Pierre Palmade said he « catastrophé » consequences for the victims. “I’m obsessed with this, with the baby who died (…). I'm dangerous because of drugs, I'm a nice guy, I'm a good person”declared Pierre Palmade, who is a repeat offender due to a conviction in 2019 for drug use. He thus faces a sentence of fourteen years' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 euros.
