a “mixture of relief and impatience” for the family “that this trial can be held”, declares one of the lawyers

Five years after the delivery man’s death, the courts ordered the trial of three police officers for “involuntary manslaughter”.

Five years of waiting. “There is a mixture of relief and impatience that this trial can take place”declared Friday January 3 on franceinfo Vincent Brengarth, one of the lawyers for Cédric Chouviat’s family. Earlier in the day, the investigating judges ordered the referral to trial of three police officers for “involuntary manslaughter”, five years after the death of the deliveryman, who had repeated “I’m suffocating” during a tense arrest on January 3, 2020 in Paris.

“This dismissal decision was firmly awaited by the family who has been wishing for years that this case could finally see a decisive breakthrough”continues Vincent Brengarth. There is “a set of expectations around this trial”he adds. The family hoped for this trial “hear the police officers’ explanations” but also for “to be able to express themselves on what these extremely serious facts represent for them and the loss of a loved one.”

However, the lawyer regrets the fact of having retained the qualification of “involuntary homicide” which, according to him “does not correspond to the reality of the facts”. “We cannot consider that the police officers acted involuntarily.”

Asked about the duration of the judicial investigation of this case “become emblematic”Vincent Brengarth judges it “abnormally long” while the facts are “relatively simple”. “We have a set of videos and testimonies which highlight the conditions in which this police intervention took place.”explains the lawyer who sees “difficultly” how these five years have been “necessary”. “There were investigative acts carried out, he recognizes, but it’s way too long.”

Another fear mentioned by the lawyer, the fact that “the more time passes, the more remote the possibility that the criminal decision that will be rendered will be very severe against the civil servants”. He explains that some police officers continue to work, “to lead an almost normal life”. So many elements, according to him, “which may be taken into account by a court to mitigate a possible sentence, where other litigants would not have this opportunity”.