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The flic think they have got the murderer


Alexis
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of those poor nurses.  They picked up a 21 year old SDF who tried to kill them.  They are testing his ADN but the prints of his shoes are, apparently, the same.  He also has a badly gashed hand.

He is an ex-patient at the Pau hospital.

Was on the news this morning.

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I know he is "Innocent until proven guilty", but I found this "let's not jump to conclusions" comment in a report and it brought a small smile to my face (which I suppose was good because I'd been quite morose until then!) 

"Investigators turned up a sword and photos of decapitated women during a search of the suspect's home, regional state prosecutor Eric Maurel said, adding that it was "premature" to pin the blame on him".

 

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Oh, I don't know. I will admit to ignorance on this, what does Napoleonic law say?

It just lightened a serious moment for me when I  read so much that pointed to them having the right guy, yet that chappie then said not to jump to conclusions.

 

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I think it must depend on the crime - here you can be stopped, blow in the bag, into garde à vue, before the court and in clink in the space of 12 hours.

You are presumed guilty here until you can prove you are innocent.  I wouldn't have thought that this case will take forever to bring to court as he is the sole person.  With the Tunnel de Mont Blanc, there were loads of people involved plus trying to divide the blame up between the Italiens and the French ....

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I hope they have got the right person. Mentally ill, or otherwise, nobody should be left roaming about if this is the kind of thing they get up to...

As to proving himself innocent, if he's mentally ill he probably won't be able to. This could drag on for years. I hope irrevocable proof is forthcoming, one way or the other asap.
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I think it says .... guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. I do know that it takes years and years to get to trial here. They're only just judging the Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire, and that was over five years ago.

 

There is an important distinction between English and Napoleonic legal systems.

In English Law (ie UK, Commonwealth, USA except Louisiana) the trial system is accusatory: that is the prosecution makes an accusation and then must justify that accusation. The prosecution have to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt, if they cannot then the accused person is not guilty. Hence the accused is considered innocent until proved otherwise.

In Napoleonic Law the trial system is inquisitional: the court looks at all aspects of the case and reaches a judgement based on the evidence presented. Since any case will have been the subject of investigation directed by an examining magistrate (who is a judge), there may be the presumption that the accused must be guilty because the examining magistrate would not have brought the case to trial otherwise.

Another difference is that in the Civil Courts, English Law places great importance on precedence, that is decisions made in previous similar cases. However in Napoleonic Law, decisions are governed by the appropriate code and cannot be affected by any previous decision.

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An excellent summary, which now makes the basic differences very clear. Thanks.
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