Depardieu trial: ruling on 26 November over annulment of rape referral
The Paris court of appeal will rule on 26 November on the request to annul the referral to trial of Gérard Depardieu for rape of actress Charlotte Arnould.
Ruling on 26 November for Depardieu in alleged rape case
The Paris court of appeal will deliver its decision on 26 November regarding the appeal of Gérard Depardieu, who is seeking to annul his referral to trial for rape of actress Charlotte Arnould, reports DHnet on the basis of sources close to the case.
A three-hour hearing took place behind closed doors on Thursday before the investigative chamber. The actor's lawyers, David-Olivier Kaminski and Delphine Meillet, faced off against the public prosecutor's office and Carine Durrieu Diebolt, the complainant's lawyer.
The defence contends that the judicial investigation has not provided "serious new elements" compared to the initial investigation by the Paris public prosecutor's office, which had closed the case, according to a source close to the case. The strategy also aims to challenge Charlotte Arnould's account, drawing on her statements and on matters of character, the same source clarified.
For its part, the public prosecutor's office requested confirmation of the referral to trial, following the reasoning of the investigating judges. Neither of the lawyers for the two parties wished to comment following the hearing.
On Wednesday, ahead of proceedings, Charlotte Arnould's lawyer stressed that "all the magistrates over the past six years [had] confirmed the committal for trial", basing this "on substantiated evidence".
Factual background
Charlotte Arnould accuses Gérard Depardieu of having raped her during the summer of 2018 at his residence, which she had visited at his invitation. She filed a complaint a few days later in the Bouches-du-Rhône. The Paris public prosecutor's office took over the investigation before closing it in June 2019 for "insufficiently substantiated offence".
Charlotte Arnould subsequently obtained, through a fresh complaint, the appointment of an investigating judge in the summer of 2020. The judge placed the actor under investigation on 16 December following. Depardieu has consistently maintained that his relations with the young woman, who was 22 years old at the time of the alleged events, were consensual.
According to elements of the order committing him for trial obtained by AFP, the investigating magistrate noted Charlotte Arnould's "clear and precise statements" from her initial complaint and throughout the investigation, corroborated by video surveillance of the actor's residence, whereas his own "statements [were] inconsistent".
Furthermore, Gérard Depardieu will also stand trial on appeal in another matter, from 16 to 20 November, accused of having sexually assaulted two women on the set of "The Green Shutters" in 2021.
Source: DHnet