The Besançon Court of Appeal confirmed Wednesday, October 28 the release in a case of violation of professional secrecy of Me Randall Schwerdorffer, the lawyer of Jonathann Daval who is due to appear from mid-November for the murder of his wife Alexia in 2017.
To read also: Relaxe of the lawyer of Jonathann Daval, tried for a conversation with the mother of his client
Prosecuted for "
violation of the secrecy of the investigation
", "
violation of professional secrecy
" and "
violation of secrecy under national internal regulations
", Mr. Schwerdorffer had already been released for the first time last February by the regional disciplinary council of lawyers in Besançon.
But the general prosecutor's office appealed against this first acquittal and the lawyer was retried on September 30, this time before the court of appeal.
The facts date back to January 2018. Arrested about three months after the discovery of his wife's corpse in a wood in Haute-Saône, Jonathann Daval was still in custody when Me Schwerdorffer, one of the main penalists in the east of France, had openly spoken to the press.
The council had reacted to the publication of elements of the investigation published by Le Point.fr and confirmed the existence of "
elements actually embarrassing
" for his client, who still denied having killed his wife - he has since admitted the murder .
"The
whole period of the investigation and the investigation are covered by secrecy
" and "
it is not because information is known that it does not remain covered by the secrecy of the investigation
", had estimated Attorney General Christophe Barret, during the appeal hearing.
He had asked for a reprimand as well as the ban on exercising responsibilities in professional bodies and the publication of the decision.
To read also: Jonathann Daval admits having "carried out the partial cremation of the body" of Alexia
For Me Samuel Estève, one of Me Schwerdorffer's lawyers, "
the elements revealed in the press posed a problem for the defense of Jonathann Daval
".
"
The media and public lynching had begun
" and speaking out was therefore "
in the interest
" of Mr. Daval "
to initiate another image of him
", according to Me Estève.
Prosecuted at the beginning of October for violation of professional secrecy for having mentioned the progress of a hearing of Jonathann Daval with the latter's mother, Me Schwerdorffer had also been released before the Strasbourg Criminal Court.
Mr. Daval's trial is due to open on November 16 before the Haute-Saône assizes in Vesoul, but his lawyers have requested that it be postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
