(Paris) The Paris Court of Appeal on Tuesday ordered the release under judicial supervision of French comedian Pierre Palmade, in pre-trial detention since February 27 following a road accident under the influence of cocaine, a judicial source told AFP.
The 54-year-old artist, hospitalized since the accident he caused on February 10 in the Paris region and struck on February 26 by a stroke, had begun his pre-trial detention there.
The investigating judge in Melun, in the Paris region, responsible for investigating the accident, ordered his release on Monday, but an appeal from the prosecution suspended this decision. On Tuesday the Paris Court of Appeal “decided not to extend this suspension and ordered the release of Pierre Palmade”, said the judicial source.
The investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal will rule on the merits on Friday morning on the appeal of the prosecution regarding this release, added this source.
On February 10, on a secondary road in the Paris region, the comedian was driving a car that hit a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. In addition to the artist, the accident left three seriously injured: a 38-year-old man, his 6-year-old son and his pregnant 27-year-old sister-in-law, who lost the baby she was expecting after the collision.
In police custody, Pierre Palmade admitted to having consumed cocaine and synthetic drugs before driving, according to the prosecution.
He was indicted for homicide and involuntary injuries by driver having used narcotics in a state of legal recidivism. He was convicted in 1995 for cocaine use and then placed in police custody in 2019 for use and acquisition of narcotics.