The Vesoul courthouse.

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Wikicommons

  • Lawyers for Jonathann Daval, the alleged murderer of his wife Alexia, had requested a postponement of their client's trial.

  • Their request was rejected and the trial will therefore begin next Monday, November 16, before the Assize Court of Haute-Saône, in Vesoul.

  • “We have questions about wearing a mask during the debates and the presence of the family at the trial.

    We do not want Jonathann's family not to be able to attend the trial, it would be catastrophic, ”explained one of his lawyers.

The trial of Jonathann Daval, on trial for the murder of his wife Alexia, will take place next week, from November 16 to 20.

The postponement request was rejected, said one of his lawyers on Monday, who considered the Vesoul Assize Court incompatible with the constraints related to Covid-19.

"We had a response from the president of the Assize Court on Thursday who (a) told us that he is opposed to our request for referral," said Maître Ornella Spatafora, who is defending Jonathann Daval with his colleagues Randall Schwerdorffer and Samuel Esteve.

The three wanted a bigger room in order to guarantee a better distance and a wider reception of the public.

Jonathann Daval's lawyers have asked the president of the Assize Court of Haute-Saône to meet "with him this week on health measures and the modalities of the trial", also said Monday Me Spatafora.

“We have questions about wearing a mask during the debates and the presence of the family at the trial.

We don't want Jonathann's family to be unable to attend the trial, it would be catastrophic, ”she added.

Postponed to March before being set again for November

The trial, which promises to be highly publicized - around forty journalists are accredited - was initially postponed to March 2021 due to the coronavirus epidemic, before being set again for November so as not to exceed the maximum deadline pre-trial detention.

Jonathann Daval, 36, will appear for "murder of a spouse", an offense punishable by life imprisonment.

The body of his wife Alexia, a 29-year-old bank employee, was found hidden under branches and partially burned on October 30, 2017 in Haute-Saône.

Our file on the Daval affair

Jonathann Daval had played for three months the grieving husband before admitting to having hit and strangled her on the night of October 27 to 28, 2017 at their home in Gray-la-Ville (Haute-Saône), during a violent quarrel conjugal.

After a reconstruction of the murder carried out in June, he finally admitted to having carried out the partial cremation of the body in a nearby wood.

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  • Justice

  • Jonathann daval

  • Trial

  • Assize court

  • Franche-Comte

  • Vesoul

  • Alexia Daval