“I trust justice“, said Dany Leprince at the end of the hearing this Thursday, December 12, according to our colleagues at AFP. The Sarthois was heard, behind closed doors, by the investigating committee of the Court of Revision, as part of a review procedure started in 2021. The one who has proclaimed his innocence for more than thirty years, wishes to have his conviction overturned for the murders of his brother, his sister-in-law and his two nieces in 1994 in Thorigné-sur-Dué (Sarthe).
“I believe that the magistrates were extremely attentive. We have successively developed the elements and facts unknown to the court when it ruled and we hope to obtain from the investigating committee the referral of this file to the Court of Revision”, reacts to the microphone of France Bleu Maine Me Olivier Morice, lawyer for Dany Leprince.
A longer wait than expected?
On January 23, 2025, the investigating committee will say whether it orders additional information, rejects the request or transmits it to the Court of Review. Only the latter can rule on whether or not the criminal conviction of Dany Leprince is annulled. But this Thursday, the attorney general asked to “wait” the evolution of judicial information opened in 2014explains Me Morice.
In this procedure, Martine Compain, ex-wife of Dany Leprince at the time, was placed under the status of assisted witness, but the Le Mans public prosecutor's office appealed and demanded her indictment. The Rennes Court of Appeal must render its decision on this subject.before summer 2025“If the investigating committee or the Court of Review decided to wait, it could take several years.
“A certain form of hypocrisy”
“We vigorously opposed this. There would be a certain form of hypocrisy. Because we have shown that there are undoubtedly elements which, already, are likely to weaken the position of Martine Compain, and certainly justify her indictment. But we are not going to wait, when Mr. Leprince is 68 years old, another 10 or 15 years of procedure for him to be retried again. Knowing that we request that his conviction be overturned and that he be retried,” believes Dany Leprince's lawyer, Me Olivier Morice.
