Justice rejected the request for recusal of the investigating judge filed by the defense of Frédéric Péchier, indicted for 30 alleged poisonings of patients including 12 fatal, we learned Friday from one of the lawyers of the anesthetist and a source familiar with the matter.
The first president of the Besançon Court of Appeal rendered a decision of "
rejection
", Me Lee Takhedmit told AFP.
"
The request for recusal has been rejected
," confirmed a source familiar with the matter.
“Dossier is at a standstill”
The “
main reason
” to justify this rejection “
is that the decisions taken by the judge are subject to appeal, which (…) allows the normal functioning of justice
”, specified Me Takhedmit.
The latter had indicated on March 22 that he had filed a request for the relinquishment of Judge Marjolaine Poinsard, who has been investigating this case since its inception in early 2017.
“
This file has been at a standstill for more than four years.
(…) I think the judge is a bit worn out
, ”the lawyer told reporters after one of the three interrogations to which Frédéric Péchier had been summoned in March by the judge.
“
It seems difficult to me to maintain true impartiality when you have been with your head in the handlebars for years
”, he still estimated.
Read alsoDr Péchier indicted for 2 new cases of patient poisoning
The defense of Frédéric Péchier, 51, had also filed other requests before the investigating chamber of the Besançon Court of Appeal, in particular claiming the nullity of the last expert opinions in the file.
No decision has been rendered on these requests, said Mr. Takhedmit, according to which "
hearing dates
" are scheduled for June.
Witness assisted
The expert reports served as the basis for the series of interrogations carried out in March and which led to new indictments of Frédéric Péchier, suspected of a total of 30 poisonings of patients, of whom 12 died.
He was placed under the more favorable assisted witness status for two other cases.
In the majority of cases, these expert reports concluded with "
a strong suspicion
", sometimes with a "
certainty
" of toxic injections, indicated at a press conference the public prosecutor of Besançon, Étienne Manteaux.
Frédéric Péchier is suspected of having polluted, between 2008 and 2017, the infusion bags of patients in Besançon to cause cardiac arrest and then demonstrate his talents as a resuscitator, but also to discredit colleagues with whom he was in conflict.
