three police officers tried for manslaughter

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Towards a legal outcome. Almost five years after the death by asphyxiation of Cédric Chouviat during his arrest in Paris, three police officers should be tried for manslaughter. Two of them appealed this decision.

A case that has become emblematic

The police officers engaged in “inappropriate, negligent and reckless behavior” leading to the asphyxiation of this 42-year-old father, according to the magistrates in charge of the case.
Cédric Chouviat, scooter deliveryman, was pinned to the ground in Paris on January 3, 2020, with his motorcycle helmet on his head, during a police check, causing discomfort. Hospitalized in critical condition, he was pronounced dead on January 5.

Six months after his death, the case had become emblematic of police violence after revelations from the legal expertise: when he was taken to the ground and handcuffed by the police, Cédric Chouviat said “I’m suffocating” nine times in thirteen seconds, before feeling unwell. His pleas recall the death of George Floyd, an African-American man suffocated in May 2020 by a white police officer in Minneapolis, a tragedy which triggered an immense wave of demonstrations in the United States.

Intentionality not retained

The referral to justice of the three officials is “an important step, for the family of Cédric Chouviat and for the judicial treatment of police violence”, estimated Arié Alimi, family lawyer.

The family's other lawyers regretted “the choice of the qualification” of involuntary homicide “which distorts and obscures” the “voluntary” nature, according to them, “of the violence”.
The investigating magistrates prosecuted for manslaughter after concluding that the file “did not establish” an “intention to harm” Mr. Chouviat, but the objective of “achieving his handcuffing and arrest”.

Except that “several clearly inappropriate actions saw their effects combine”: a police officer held Mr. Chouviat's head at neck level with his arm for an “excessively long duration”, while the two others handcuffed him without “take into account the foreseeable suffering” of Mr. Chouviat.

The lawyer for two of the police officers involved told l'AFP appealed the referral to the court.

With AFP

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