The actor Pierre Palmade appeared this Wednesday, November 20 before the Melun high court to answer charges against him following a road accident that occurred a year and a half ago. The prosecution has made its submissions.
Pierre Palmade: The courts have taken their orders, he should not go to prison…
The rest after the ad
He made people laugh on stage and on the screens. This time has passed for Pierre Palmade, since the terrible accident he caused in Seine-et-Marne in February 2023. This November 20, 2024 began the trial of the 56-year-old artist, now living near his loved ones in Bordeaux, far from the show business world which has turned its back on it. He faced 14 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 euros. The prosecution made its requisitions after a particularly publicized trial and investigation.
The Melun public prosecutor's office requested five years in prison: 2 years firm without deposit mandate – convertible? – and 3 years suspended with obligation care against Pierre Palmade. The latter has the obligation to compensate the civil parties and has his driving license canceled.
Return to the Palmade affair
This Wednesday, Pierre Palmade was confronted with the story of the broken lives of the victims of the family of the car he hit, at the opening of his trial in Melun for his serious road accident under drugs in Seine-et-Marne last year. Entering the court through a back door to escape the swarm of cameras, the comedian and television man sat surrounded by his lawyers, his complexion pale, his face sunken, his gaze into space, wearing a black jacket and a white shirt. Throughout the victims' testimonies, he remained focused, lips pursed in the face of the long list of after-effects.
In front of him, the victims of the accident recounted their lives destroyed since the accident. In the car were the 38-year-old driver and his 27-year-old sister-in-law in the front, and the driver's six-year-old boy in the back. Their vital prognoses have been engaged. Although they are still alive almost two years after the tragedy, the after-effects are nevertheless very present.
“It is very difficult for me to be present in this room today, there is a lot of work being done with my psychiatrist“, declared Mila, former support worker for students with disabilities (AESH). Six months pregnant at the time of the accident, she underwent an emergency cesarean section. Her unborn daughter, named Solin, was declared dead after 32 minutes of resuscitation, without giving any sign of ectopic life.
Victims demanded a change in jurisprudence
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. “I am waiting for this jurisprudence to change and for Solin to be the key to bringing about this change.”declared the one who is now the mother of a two-month-old daughter, after a “very painful pregnancy“.
In his opening remarks, the victims' lawyer, Me Mourad Battikh, hoped that Pierre Palmade would appear for manslaughter as the prosecutor had requested in his requisitions. In May, the investigating judge dismissed the comedian solely for aggravated involuntary injuries. Questioned by the president, Pierre Palmade refused to be tried for manslaughter.
Helped by a crutch, left arm in a sling, Yuksel Yakut, driver of the Renault Mégane violently hit by the one driven by Pierre Palmade, sat down with difficulty in front of the court. “I won't be able to go back to the way I was before“, he declared with the help of a Turkish interpreter. His liver and intestines have been affected and his hips remain very fragile. His pain forces him to take medication in the morning.
His son Revolution “really isn't like before, he doesn't want to go out with his friends, he's repeating a grade at school“, said the father, explaining that his child had more nightmares and was the victim of mockery because of his deformed jaw following the accident.
Pierre Palmade's drug use is not debated
On February 10, 2023 at the end of the day, Pierre Palmade had a large quantity of cocaine and 3M™ (a designer drug) in the blood when he gets behind the wheel with two companions of “bringue“, who were not prosecuted. On a road in the south of the department, his car collided with a vehicle coming in front.
One road injury accident among the 52,000 recorded in mainland France that year. But due to the notoriety of the accused, this collision will explode into a media storm of rare intensity, with cascading revelations about the lifestyle and addictions of this drifting artist. Pierre Palmade was a repeat offender due to a conviction in 2019 for drug use. He faced a sentence of fourteen years' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 euros.
