Le Figaro Nice
Marceline and Yvon Guez are exhausted.
They have been waiting for almost two years for the man responsible for the death of their 16-year-old son Noé to be convicted.
On the night of June 24 to 25, 2022, the teenager was fatally struck by Grégory P., on the road to Grasse, in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes).
The driver, who was drunk and under the influence of cocaine and ecstasy at the time of the tragedy, did not take the trouble to help the victim.
He was later arrested and indicted for “manslaughter”.
If he was initially due to appear before the Grasse criminal court on Wednesday, his fate will not finally be decided until July 5.
The hearing was postponed because the defendant's lawyer, Me Paul Sollacaro, filed an appeal before the Court of Cassation against his client's criminal referral order.
The lawyer notably made a request for additional documents.
And for the second time, he won his case.
In January, he had already challenged the provisional detention of Grégory P., who had not complied with his judicial review, before the highest French court.
The accused was immediately released.
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“A tragically simple file”
A situation experienced as a double, even triple punishment by Noah's parents.
“We can't take it anymore, it's torture!
We no longer sleep, we no longer live.
We have the impression that it will never stop
,” says Yvon Guez indignantly.
He does not understand why Grégory P.'s lawyer insists on systematically appealing.
He only sees it as an
“odious”
way of delaying the hearing.
“They took our son away from us and now they want to kill us
,” he laments, his throat tight.
“It is, however, a tragically simple matter”
, adds the Guez counsel, Me Philippe Soussi.
“We are dealing with a defendant who is trying to impose his timetable on the justice system, it is unbelievable.
His only concern is his freedom.
Or rather its freedoms.
That of not being in prison, that of driving when forbidden and finally that of doing it under the influence of cocaine.
All of this, with disregard for human life
,” says Me Soussi.
The lawyer refers to the revocation of Grégory P.'s judicial control on September 29, 2023. A little over a year after the fatal accident and while he had not yet been tried, the man had been controlled while driving a vehicle in Villeneuve-Loubet while he was strictly prohibited from taking the road.
Worse, a drug test came back positive... for cocaine.
He was remanded to the Grasse remand center pending his trial.
Before his lawyer obtained his release in cassation due to a procedural error.
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“I was, so to speak, spat in the face”
Me Sollacaro disputes the accusation that he and his client would do anything to delay the hearing.
“We wouldn't be here if everything had been done according to the rules.
When my client was re-incarcerated, I was not even informed
, he recalls.
I want him to be judged according to legal principles.
However, many have been flouted.
I was, so to speak, spat in the face.
I understood that in this matter we had to move very quickly to keep up appearances and respond to a form of media pressure, but that is not justice.
I don't shy away from the deadline given to me, but I don't accept that we do anything.
In any case, I hope everyone finds peace.”
Before the July deadline, Grégory P. will be judged during the month of March for non-compliance with his judicial review in September 2023.