A ten-year prison sentence was pronounced on Saturday on appeal to the Eure assizes against Alexandra Richard, 43, convicted of "murder on a spouse" for having killed her violent companion in 2016. This mother of three children had been sentenced to the same sentence at first instance in November 2020 at the Seine-Maritime Assize Court.
Saturday, in Evreux, the jurors of the Assize Court of Appeal did not therefore retain self-defense.
At the verdict, some tears from the ranks of Alexandra Richard's family were heard in the courtroom.
As she climbed into the prison van, Alexandra Richard told her children “kisses, I love you”.
An "absolute shame" and a "miscarriage of justice"
One of the two counsel for Alexandra Richard, Me Lorraine Questiaux, considered that this verdict was an "absolute shame" and an "absolute miscarriage of justice".
“The debates showed that there was no way to convict her of intentional homicide.
The circumstances of self-defense were established, ”she said.
“All the efforts of feminist struggles are put aside.
The victim's word is denied.
The patriarchal system is powerful, ”added Me Questiaux.
The verdict is in accordance with the requisitions of the public prosecutor who had ruled out self-defense.
"It can't be willful violence without intention to give it, it's murder."
She obviously has extenuating circumstances, that's for sure.
But we cannot kill in this context, ”said Advocate General Patrice Lemonnier on Saturday.
Alexandra Richard killed her 36-year-old husband with a shotgun on October 16, 2016 at their home in Montreuil-en-Caux (Seine-Maritime).
The latter, in a state of intoxication, had just risen from his chair, threatening to "kick his ass", she explained.
"The fruit of a trauma, fear, deficiencies in the collection of his words"
On the day of the tragedy, her husband began to drink at noon and the accused told her that she was going to leave him, according to her. During his indictment, the Advocate General considered that the accused had "a difficulty with reality". “Alexandra Richard has developed elements of aggression, death threats that are not verifiable. The more time passes, the more she adds, ”said Patrice Lemonnier. The attorney general admitted that the victim, who had been convicted in 1999 for having shot a rival in love, could have bouts of violence.
One of the two lawyers of the accused, Me Quentin Dekimpe, had pleaded for self-defense.
“If she grabbed that gun, it was to defend herself.
Self-defense against this man who could have killed her, ”he said.
"The fluctuations in Ms. Richard's versions are not linked to a maneuver: it is the result of trauma, fear, deficiencies in the collection of her words", also declared Me Dekimpe during his plea. .
