20-year sentence for murder of "La Maff" in Gosier; both sides file appeal
Achille Bougouneau has been sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for the murder of Ludrick Morentin in 2021. The defence and civil parties contest the verdict and announce an appeal.
Contested verdict from both sides following death of Ludrick Morentin in Grand Baie Gosier
Achille Bougouneau has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for the death of Ludrick Morentin, known as "La Maff", which occurred on 6 March 2021 in Grand Baie Gosier. According to rci.fm, the decision, delivered following three days of hearings at the court of assizes, provoked unanimous rejection from both sides of the courtroom.
The jury deliberated for two and a half hours on the sole question of voluntary homicide, before concluding on the guilt of the accused, who has been incarcerated for three years and five months. The 20-year sentence is lower than the 25 years sought by the public prosecutor; the accused faced up to 30 years.
A volley of thirteen shots, only one defendant in the dock
On the evening of the tragedy, several shooters — between three and four according to evidence submitted to the case — opened fire on the victim. Thirteen shots were counted; two struck Ludrick Morentin and one of them, received directly in the chest, proved fatal. Achille Bougouneau has consistently denied being the author of the gunfire.
The lawyer for the civil parties, Maître Gladys Democrite, and the defence lawyer, Maître Lorenza Bourjac, both affirmed that the conviction had fallen arbitrarily on the accused, in order to avoid reopening the proceedings.
"Justice has spoken with great contempt"
Maître Democrite described the trial as a "trial of dupes" and believed the convicted man is not the murderer — a conviction shared by the relatives of Ludrick Morentin. In a statement reported by rci.fm, the victim's family condemned the treatment reserved for Morentin from the night of the tragedy:
> "Justice has spoken. It has spoken, it seems to us, with great contempt, as it has throughout this case. I know that from the start, law enforcement and all those representing justice showed disrespect to Ludrick Morentin. He died at 3:15 in the morning and his body was only removed from the crime scene at 7:30; they left him there, his mortal remains, for almost four hours, without even putting a sheet over him."
The family added that evidence may have been fabricated during the investigation, and that the convicted man does not correspond, in their view, to the real author of the facts.
Defence calls case "hollow" and considers appeal to the Court of Cassation
Maître Bourjac, who has been handling the case since her client's indictment, expressed her conviction of an innocence never denied by the accused. She announced an appeal, or even an appeal to the Court of Cassation:
> "To condemn a man to 20 years, even on principle alone, on such a hollow case troubles me. I prefer to believe that it is I who failed to plead correctly. Because if it is the opposite — that is, if someone was condemned when it was known full well that a case was hollow — for me, that is extremely serious."
The lawyer also mentioned the mental state of her client, who arrived at the hearing with hopes of an acquittal and who leaves with twenty years' imprisonment.
Possible re-examination within a year
The case could be re-examined within approximately one year before the court of assizes sitting as an appellate body. The verdict provisionally concludes the judgment of a collective shooting in which only one accused appeared, whilst several shooters were implicated according to the evidence in the case file.
Source: Google News GP — Crime