Palmade case: the baby of the passenger injured in the accident died before birth, according to an expert opinion

Europe 1 with AFP 16:55 p.m., September 21, 2023

The baby carried by the passenger injured in the road accident caused by the comedian Pierre Palmade in February under the influence of narcotics died before birth, according to a medical expertise, learned Thursday AFP from close sources, confirming information from the Parisian. "This child is viable, but is not alive at birth ... The few heartbeats observed around 16 minutes after birth are insufficient to ensure effective circulatory function and can in no way be considered signs of ectopic life," according to the conclusions of the report consulted by AFP.

The office of Mourad Battikh, the family's lawyer, told AFP on Thursday that it was not yet in possession of the report but said it would request a second opinion. On February 10, on a departmental road in Seine-et-Marne, Pierre Palmade was driving a car that hit a vehicle coming in front. In addition to the actor, the accident left three seriously injured: a 38-year-old man, his 6-year-old son and his 27-year-old sister-in-law, who lost after the collision the baby she was expecting. Six and a half months pregnant at the time of the accident, she lost her female child after an emergency caesarean delivery.

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Substance abuse problems

In custody, Pierre Palmade, plagued for decades by drug addiction problems, admitted to having consumed cocaine and synthetic drugs before getting behind the wheel. He was indicted for manslaughter and unintentional injury by a driver who used narcotics in a state of legal recidivism. The qualifications used are subject to change to "unintentional injuries" by the judge during the investigation. The challenge is to determine whether the baby breathed after emergency delivery by caesarean section, even for a few seconds, and can therefore legally be considered a human person.

The expert report was placed in the investigation file. The artist had been placed for a time in pre-trial detention but without having physically entered prison: victim of a stroke two weeks after the accident, he had been hospitalized. Since the beginning of June, the 55-year-old actor has been forbidden to leave the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and has the obligation to set his residence in a specific place. His judicial control obliges him to continue his treatment and prohibits him from contacting the victims or driving a vehicle, according to the same source.