Attempted murder trial at the Gard Assize Court: 12 and 4 years in prison for the two accused

Me Baptiste Scherrer and Me Marion Touzellier defended the victims before the Gard Assize Court. Midi Libre – E.A.

After three days of trial at the Gard Assize Court, the shooter was sentenced to 12 years in prison. His accomplice left with 4 years in prison, three of which were suspended.

“For three days I have been singled out as a drug trafficker. But I am a victim”. For this third and final day of trial in this case of attempted murder and criminal association at the Gard Assize Court, the victims are given the floor. On the night of January 9, 2022, two friends, a young man and a young woman, were shot twice with a shotgun during an ambush. They were wounded in the forearm for one, and in the leg for the other.

A meeting place that questions

According to the main accused, he arranged to meet the victim via a fake profile on Snapchat, pretending to be a cannabis buyer. A version contested by the two victims, who explain that their presence in this dead-end street, in the heights of Nîmes, was the result of chance. “I used to come here for motorcycle rides, and since we were waiting for our food order to be ready, I drove here while waiting. But when Sophie* told me that the order was ready, we decided to turn around, and that's when I came across this girl at the entrance to the dead end.”, explains Hakim*, one of the victims. This girl is the second accused. She used tear gas against them, before her accomplice shot them.

A settling of scores against a backdrop of drug trafficking ?

But what has been questioning the court since the beginning of the trial is the presence of 50kg of cannabis in the victim's trunk. "It was for a birthday", he justifies himself. “But why are you the one transporting the drugs ?”, questions Christian Pasta, president of the court. “I was asked", he simply replies. As for the fact that he is associated with the accused in a possible drug trafficking operation, the victim denies it.“We met at a friend's wedding. He was the bride and groom's driver. We talked later because I wanted to hire his services for my sister's wedding”, he explained to the court. “Why would he want to get revenge on you then”?”, the president continued. “I don't know, maybe because I'm the only guy from a neighborhood he knows and that's why he accuses me of being the author of the burglary”. As for the second victim, she explains that she is a collateral victim, unaware of this story of a meeting against a backdrop of drug trafficking, even if she admits that at the time, she was a drug user. “But the court must not take shortcuts. She has never been linked in any way to any drug trafficking”, emphasizes Me Touzellier, her lawyer.

“If he had wanted to scare people, he could have shot in the air”

For his part, Me Scherrer, Hakim's counsel, insists in his plea on the notion of attempted assassination of which his client was the victim. “The accused tells us that he just wanted to scare people. But as the president pointed out, if he had wanted to scare people, he could have fired into the air or used the blank weapon he had at home. But that is not the case, which clearly shows a desire to kill”, he specifies. But for Me Caron, the accused's lawyer, another option is possible: “If he had wanted to kill, he could have positioned himself in front of the victim, and not come from the back of the car”.

At the end of this trial, the attorney general is requesting 18 years in prison for the shooter and five years in prison with three years suspended for the co-accused, who he believes did not know that her ex-boyfriend intended to use a weapon. “When you want to manipulate someone into participating in an ambush, you don't say that you are armed and that you are going to shoot someone. Otherwise she might refuse”, he specifies. After three hours of deliberation, the jurors finally decided on sentences of 12 years in prison for the shooter and 4 years, including three years suspended, for his accomplice. A sentence that will surely be served under an electronic bracelet, to the great disappointment of the victims.

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