The jurors did not hesitate in rendering their verdict after an hour and a half.
This Friday, Mickaël, 30, was found guilty by the Assize Court of Essonne in Évry-Courcouronnes, of the murder of Stéphane, on November 29, 2012 in Athis-Mons.
The accused had fired his shotgun, shooting his friend in the head, point-blank.
The two men were spending an evening in Mickaël's apartment at 132, avenue Henri-Barbusse, and had consumed alcohol.
The accused claims that the shooting was accidental.
Read alsoAthis-Mons: he had shot his friend in the head with a pump shotgun
During the deliberations, the question of a reclassification as voluntary violence with a weapon resulting in death without the intention of giving it was put to the jurors, as well as, at the request of the defence, that of manslaughter.
But the court remained on the qualification of murder with the key to a sentence of 14 years of criminal imprisonment.
The day before, the Advocate General had requested a sentence of 18 years in prison.
Mickaël's lawyer, Me Frédéric Delaméa, has indicated that his client will appeal this decision.
An argument between the two friends?
The accused and the victim had known each other for fifteen years and were very close. That day, Stéphane had had a dismissal interview and had come to spend the evening at his friend's house, around bottles of whiskey. Did they argue? Nothing indicates it. But at some point during the evening, the shotgun, which Mickaël had bought illegally, was taken out of his closet. Mickaël, who first accused the victim of having played with the weapon and of having shot himself in the head, had to admit, faced with the elements of the investigation, that he was well the shooter.
An accidental shooting according to him.
But, he knew that the rifle was loaded and therefore dangerous.
He explained that he did not know how to remove the cartridge which was chambered and that he thought the safety was on, which it was not.
Despite everything, he pressed the trigger tail while Mickaël was right next to him.
He claimed that when he was handling the gun he could not see where his friend was and that he had closed his eyes when the shot was fired.
Explanations that did not convince.
