Depardieu contests trial referral in rape case: decision on 26 November
Paris Court of Appeal will deliver its ruling on 26 November regarding Gérard Depardieu's request to annul his referral to trial for rape allegations involving Charlotte Arnould.
Depardieu awaits court of appeal decision on trial referral
Paris Court of Appeal will rule on 26 November on the judicial fate of Gérard Depardieu, according to sources close to the case cited by La Libre. The actor, through his lawyers, has formally requested the annulment of his referral to trial for rape allegations against actress Charlotte Arnould.
A three-hour hearing was held in closed session before the investigative chamber. The defence lawyers, Mes David-Olivier Kaminski and Delphine Meillet, faced the general prosecution office as well as Me Carine Durrieu Diebolt, lawyer for the complainant.
Defence contests the substance of the investigation
According to a source close to the case, the defence argues that the judicial investigation has not produced "serious new evidence" compared to the initial inquiry by the Paris public prosecutor's office, which had closed the case. The lawyers' strategy also aims to challenge Charlotte Arnould's version of events, relying on different statements and attacking elements of her character.
The general prosecution office, for its part, requested confirmation of the referral to trial, following the reasoning of the investigating judges. Following the hearing, none of the parties wished to make public statements.
The day before the hearing, Charlotte Arnould's lawyer had however stressed that "all magistrates over six years (had) upheld the indictment", basing this "on the strength of substantiated evidence".
Alleged offences date back to summer 2018
Charlotte Arnould accuses Gérard Depardieu of raping her during the summer of 2018 at his home, where she had gone at his invitation. A few days after the alleged incidents, she filed a complaint in Bouches-du-Rhône.
The Paris public prosecutor's office took up the investigation before closing it in June 2019 for "insufficiently substantiated offence". Charlotte Arnould nevertheless obtained, through a fresh complaint, the appointment of an investigating judge in summer 2020, who formally charged the actor on 16 December of that year.
Gérard Depardieu has consistently maintained that the relationship was consensual with the young woman, who was 22 years old at the time of the alleged incidents.
According to elements of the committal order obtained by AFP, the investigating magistrate highlighted Charlotte Arnould's "clear and precise statements" from the moment of her complaint, corroborated by video surveillance of the actor's home, whereas he had by contrast provided "inconsistent statements".
Another case to be tried in November
In parallel, Gérard Depardieu will be tried on appeal in a separate case from 16 to 20 November for sexual assault on two women during the filming of Volets verts in 2021.
Source: La Libre