Throughout the trial, the case was characterized by its violence. A violence so extreme that it is, for those who remain far from the limits of humanity, incomprehensible. This shows the burden that weighed, this Friday, January 17, on the shoulders of the lawyers of Mickaël Sousseing and Didier Stephan. On the night of February 18 to 19, these two Brestois, aged 43 and 39, were in Yoann L’Abbé’s apartment in the Bellevue district of Brest to consume drugs and alcohol. The three men share an addiction to cocaine, cannabis and crack. During the evening, an argument broke out, and Mickaël Sousseing beat Yoann L’Abbé to death, in front of Didier Stephan’s eyes. An extremely violent crime scene that is worth, for one, being accused of murder. For the other, to be accused of failure to assist a person in danger.
Faced with the jurors, the defense lawyers had to demonstrate pedagogy. For two days, they heard and saw, thanks to the photographs, the brutality with which Yoann L’Abbé was beaten. How his face, after this thorough beating, was covered with jeans. And how his room was turned over and a 50 euro note stolen from his pockets. Overwhelming facts which, despite everything, leave gray areas, into which the defense lawyers have plunged.
No “inhuman indifference” from Didier Stephan, his lawyers argue
“To be found guilty of failure to assist a person in danger, one must have voluntarily refrained from providing assistance. This implies inhuman indifference. However, we maintain that Mr. Stephan is innocent of this vice,” argued Me Quantin, one of Didier Stephan’s two lawyers. Citing the law, the lawyer recalls that failure to assist a person in danger implies not having helped the person, either immediately or by calling for help. And for not having done his best. “Now, what does it mean to do your best? It depends on the strength of character of each person. Mr. Stephan tried to interrupt the violence. He told us. He didn’t succeed but he tried. He couldn’t do more because he was in total fear. »
On the different versions given by the accused, who sometimes claimed that Yoann L’Abbé was alive when he left, then that he was dead, his lawyer cites confusion linked to the beginnings of the investigation: “He says that his lawyer at the time told him to say he didn’t know he was dead. This is not advice I would have given but I understand it. For the rest, the jeans placed on Mr. L’Abbé’s face are, I think, a gesture that we have towards a deceased person. » His other lawyer, Me Garrec, also recalled the syndrome he suffers from: “He is being prosecuted even though he has Down syndrome. That doesn’t mean he’s not intelligent. I say he is different from us. If he had been taken care of from childhood, he would have been taught to react in harmony with society. »
-“I am sorry for the harm I have caused”
For Mickaël Sousseing’s lawyers, it is a question of demonstrating that the forty-year-old did not intend to kill. “We are of course much closer to murder than to manslaughter,” recognizes Meunier. No one can say they weren’t shocked by the images from the scene. But Mr. Stephan himself said that Mr. Sousseing did not want to kill Mr. L’Abbé. The evidence is that he thought he was breathing when they left the apartment. » Invoking the forensic doctors, who indicated that it was difficult to determine whether the death was due to strangulation or head trauma, Me Meunier called for vigilance: “This is not a detail. Because hitting someone’s face beyond the limits of understanding does not prove homicidal intent. »
His other lawyer, Me Pellen, affirms that Mickaël Sousseing is not a lost case: “His life path is marked out towards marginality, towards delinquency. The starting point, as is often the case, is a defective family environment, with violence. However, this is a context conducive to personality disorders, visible in Mr. Sousseing. However, shortly before the events, he had started to take charge of himself: he completed a diploma, carried out temporary assignments… When he is not considered a reject, he is on the right path. This is proof, to me, that he can become a better person. » At the end of the pleadings, the two accused expressed their remorse one last time: “I want to apologize to the family,” Didier Stephan simply declared. “The family has the right not to accept my apologies, but I do it anyway,” insisted Mickaël Sousseing. I’m sorry for the harm I caused. »
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