The Court of Cassation rejected on Wednesday two appeals made by Nordahl Lelandais, alleged murderer of little Maëlys in 2017, opening the possibility of prosecuting him for the rape of the child and keeping psychological expertise in the file.
The 37-year-old former dog handler is currently under investigation for the murder of little Maëlys de Araujo, 8, at the end of August 2017 during a wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, in Isère, as well as for sexual assaults committed on two little cousins a few weeks earlier, aged four and six at the time of the events.
Additional requisitions
Nordahl Lelandais is also being prosecuted for possession of child pornography images (videos and photos viewed on the internet) and recording (on smartphone) of pornographic images of minors under 15 years of age (sexual assault of grand cousins).
In September 2019, the Grenoble public prosecutor's office had taken additional requisitions after being informed by the prison administration of confidences which a co-detainee of Nordahl Lelandais had allegedly gathered, to whom he allegedly said that he had raped the young girl.
Camp Lelandais request rejected
At the end of October 2019, the investigating chamber of the Grenoble Court of Appeal closed this door in a decision that the public prosecutor's office challenged in cassation. For its part, the Lelandais defense refuted the presence in the file of the testimony of the co-detainee from the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier prison, in Isère. These two appeals have been joined.
In its judgment, the Court of Cassation considers on the one hand that the additional indictment of the parquet floor was made in the rules, by rejecting on the other hand the request of Lelandais. "This will allow the examining magistrates to reconvene Nordahl Lelandais, to hear him again and if they consider that the charges are sufficient, to put him on trial for rape," the Grenoble prosecutor's office told AFP. "Any new procedural act may potentially give rise to new appeals, which would delay the closure of the investigation all the more," it was said from the same source, taking care not to mention a date of assizes trial.