The investigating judge responsible for investigating the death of deliveryman Cédric Chouviat in 2020 in Paris completed his investigations into this emblematic case of police violence on February 9, we learned on Wednesday from sources close to the case.
On January 3, 2020, the 42-year-old father was pinned to the ground with his motorcycle helmet on his head during a police check, causing him to feel unwell.
Hospitalized in critical condition, he was pronounced dead on January 5.
Three of the four police officers who participated in the check, then aged 23 to 33, were indicted in July 2020 for manslaughter as part of the judicial investigation opened into this tragedy, while a fourth police officer was placed under the less incriminating status of assisted witness.
“Clear signs”
Several medical reports have called into question the arrest actions of the police officers.
At the same time, Cédric Chouviat's family raises the question of the intentionality of the violence on their part, accusing them of not having reacted quickly enough to the victim's signs of asphyxiation, who repeated
"I'm suffocating"
nine times. in thirteen seconds before feeling unwell.
The police denied having perceived the
“clear signs”
of Cédric Chouviat’s asphyxiation.
“If we had heard even once”
the expression
“I’m suffocating”
,
“we would have stopped”
, the principal accused had certified in July 2020 before the investigating judge.
A re-enactment was organized in January 2023 at the site of the death of Cédric Chouviat, Quai Jacques-Chirac 100 meters from the Eiffel Tower, to determine if the police were able to hear his cries of agony.
Before the summer of 2023, a reconstruction was organized indoors, aiming to examine the actions of the police officers and their consequences on the life of Cédric Chouviat.
Now that the investigations are closed, a period of three months opens for the observations of the parties and for the requisitions of the Paris prosecutor's office.
At the end, and if the investigation is not relaunched, it will be up to the investigating judge to rule on the possible holding of a trial.