“It is an offense of flagrance.
Suddenly, I recognize but not the premeditation because there was no purpose.
It happened unexpectedly ”: these are the first words of David Patterson before the Assize Court of Seine-et-Marne, in Melun, which judges him - since Tuesday, March 30 - for assassination and attempted assassination.
This 36-year-old inhabitant of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre appears for having thrown his BMW against the terrace of the Cesena pizzeria, in Sept-Sorts, on August 14, 2017. An attack that cost the life of a 13-year-old schoolgirl and in which a dozen people were seriously injured.
Sept-Sorts (Seine-et-Marne), August 14, 2017. The driver of the BMW had deliberately darkened on the crowded terrace of a pizzeria, killing a 13-year-old teenager.
/ DR
The accused faces more than thirty civil parties, defended by ten lawyers.
This is why a second room was opened, in order to allow their relatives to follow the hearing, scheduled for 13 days.
The Covid 19 pandemic indeed imposes health measures, prohibiting being "in close ranks".
Drawing of lots of jurors, census of the civil parties, call of the many witnesses and experts to whom the president gave their day and their time of passage, presentation of the facts which weigh on the accused: it is in a lead silence that the trial has opened.
This evening of August 14, 2017 saw the fate of many families change.
Tire screeching, an engine roar, and suddenly David Patterson's BMW slammed into the pizzeria terrace, sweeping eight customers and a member of staff in its path, before exploding the bay window and finishing its race against the counter.
No less than 45 people were on the scene at the time of the tragedy.
"I have a kalach '"
David Patterson had then engaged a reverse gear, before being prevented from doing so by witnesses who had thrown objects at his car.
"I have a kalach," he told them, while searching for something under his seat.
There were no weapons in the car.
We now know that it was not an attack, even if the appalling consequences of this criminal act are very similar.
Angela - 13 years old - lost her life under the wheels of the car.
His 4-year-old brother and his father were seriously injured: 180 days of temporary incapacity for work (ITT) for the first, 240 for the second, the amounts are exceptional.
For other victims, it is fractures to the legs, pelvis or vertebrae that earned them ITTs of 150, 90, 60, 30 days, with extreme psychological repercussions.
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Why did David Patterson shatter their lives?
On this first day of hearing, the court looked at the personality of the accused, particularly complex, to try to find leads.
This security guard, who lived in Verdelot before moving with his family to La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, lost his mother at the age of three.
A life "surrounded by death"
David Patterson's older sister explained how the death had shaken up the family structure, their father - helpless after the disappearance of his wife - not imposing any strict framework on them.
While David Patterson was struggling at school and becoming addicted to cannabis, his sister found refuge in brilliant studies.
"We have not managed to maintain a close link," she explained, before mentioning a financial dispute between them, which generated strong jealousy.
It is with emotion that the father of David Patterson came to the bar: he told of the school blockages and the depression of his son.
He goes regularly to the Meaux-Chauconin penitentiary center, where the accused is in solitary: “It's difficult to admit.
I would never have considered this for my son.
There are harsher realities than one would like.
"
For his former teacher, David Patterson's life “has been surrounded by death”.
“His mother lost her own mother just before giving birth to him.
And she developed leukemia when he was 9 months old.
This is where the root of the problem lies.
".
