Three police officers tried for death of Cédric Chouviat in 2020
Three police officers face trial from Monday at Paris court for the involuntary manslaughter of delivery driver Cédric Chouviat, who died in January 2020 following a traffic stop that turned tragic.
Trial six years after fatal traffic stop
According to TF1 Info, three police officers are to be tried from Monday 26 October at Paris court for the involuntary manslaughter of Cédric Chouviat, a 42-year-old delivery driver who died in January 2020. The course of the trial remains uncertain: all the defence lawyers and civil parties are requesting an adjournment.
In December 2024, three of the four police officers present during the Paris traffic stop had been committed for trial in the lower court. This qualification is contested by the lawyers for the Chouviat family, who also demand that all four officers be tried. The lawyers also contend that the trial duration, scheduled for two half-days, is insufficient for a case of this complexity.
The events of 3 January 2020
On 3 January 2020, Cédric Chouviat is riding a scooter with a telephone in his hand in the 7th arrondissement of Paris when he is stopped by four police officers. The situation escalates rapidly. The man is arrested "for disrespect" and pinned to the ground on his stomach, helmet on his head.
In videos, including one he filmed himself, Cédric Chouviat repeats "I'm suffocating" nine times over 13 seconds without being heard. He subsequently becomes unwell and dies two days later at the European Georges-Pompidou Hospital, where he had been transported in life-threatening condition.
The role of the chokehold
One of the main accused, then aged 33, brought the victim to the ground using a chokehold, a technique since prohibited. According to an order consulted by the AFP, his recollection of the arrest remains "hazy". He claims to have placed his forearm beneath the helmet while being "careful not to apply too much pressure". He adds that the medical emergency witnessed by his colleagues left him in a state of "shock".
All the police officers involved deny hearing Cédric Chouviat's pleas. Me Pauline Ragot, lawyer for two of the police officers, contends that they "acted in the context of a difficult arrest on a major traffic artery" and that this arrest was "legitimate". According to her, "at no moment were they able to perceive his physical distress".
Disagreements over legal qualification
The Ombudsman, in a decision made public in April 2026, found that the police officers had displayed "inappropriate, negligent and reckless behaviour" and resorted to "a disproportionate use of force". The lawyers for the Chouviat family will contest the qualification of "involuntary manslaughter" retained by the investigating judge and will raise the incompetence of the court at the opening of the hearing.
Me Arié Alimi, one of three lawyers for the family, stated at a press conference that qualifying the facts as involuntary manslaughter amounts to a "legal absurdity". He emphasised: "To strangle standing up, to strangle on the ground, to hear him say I'm suffocating, to continue to suffocate him and crush him... Is that something that is not voluntary?"
For his part, Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, lawyer for one of the main accused, denounces attempts to "monopolise judicial debate by gagging the defence of the police officers". He intends to request an adjournment of the hearing.
The family's pain
Cédric Chouviat's father, Christian Chouviat, expresses his anger towards the four police officers: "I have anger towards them, it is mine alone and it will never end, I will die with it." His daughter Sofia Chouviat notes that police violence has occurred "again and again" since this tragedy. She hopes to make this case a "symbol of reconciliation".
Source: TF1 Info