Bruno Engler, a former soldier, was sentenced on April 20, 2021 to 25 years’ imprisonment by the Var de Draguignan Assize Court for the murder of his wife, Dorothée Blondel. The facts took place on December 25, 2017, in Toulon. At the time, the man, a drug addict, had fatally stabbed his partner in front of his 3 children then aged 9, 14 and 15 because he suspected his wife of having an affair.
But just as he was just beginning to serve his sentence, the murderer of Dorothée Blondel has just been released. Me Cécile Gondran, his lawyer, nevertheless specifies that his client is ” under very strict judicial control “, according to information from Var Matin. A week after his conviction, Bruno Engler appealed. He should therefore have been tried again within a year. This is in any case what article 380-3-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seems to provide.
A “human error”
Unfortunately, his hearing, which was to take place at the Assize Court of the Alpes-Maritimes, never took place. ” I wanted to relocate the case, move it as far away as possible from Toulon and even from the jurisdiction of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal “, explains Me Cécile Gondran to our colleagues. This request will then have led human error “. ” The date of the judgment of the Criminal Division was taken as the starting point for the appeal period “, she adds, proud” that the law has been respected “.
At the beginning of the week, the detainee’s lawyer contacted the public prosecutor who confirmed to him that his client was not imprisoned under any title. And this, since April 28th. Now free, Bruno Engler is prohibited from staying in the Var and must go to the police station every day to report his presence. He does not have the right to contact his children or to go to the maternal grandparents’ home.
For his part, the children’s lawyer don’t cry foul though “. He explains that ” the family retains faith in justice. To err is human and it can happen… We are not here to reproach, but to ensure that justice is done. We are therefore awaiting the date of this new trial. “Words reported by Var Matin.
VB
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