The Paris Court of Appeal ordered, on Monday February 27, the provisional detention of Pierre Palmade, until then under house arrest in hospital, after the serious road accident he caused on February 10 under the influence of cocaine.
Since the collision which left three seriously injured in Seine-et-Marne, including a pregnant woman who lost her fetus, the 54-year-old comedian has been indicted for homicide and involuntary injuries by a driver who used narcotics in state of legal recidivism.
On February 17 in Melun, the judge of freedoms and detention had him under house arrest, under electronic bracelet, in the addiction service of a hospital. This decision was challenged on Friday before the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal by the general prosecutor’s office, which had requested his placement in pre-trial detention.
The investigating chamber ruled in favor of the prosecution on Monday and issued a warrant of committal, announced the public prosecutor. “The implementation of this mandate now falls under the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor at the Melun judicial court, to which it will be transmitted accompanied by the immediately enforceable decision,” Rémy Heitz said in a press release.
Hospitalized in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne), Pierre Palmade suffered a stroke late Saturday afternoon, his entourage told Agence France-Presse, confirming information from several media. He was transferred to the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital, confirmed a source familiar with the matter.
Positive cocaine test
On February 10, on a departmental road in Seine-et-Marne, the comedian 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 the six-month-old fetus she was expecting after the collision. Pierre Palmade, positive for cocaine, “recognized” according to the prosecution having consumed it, as well as synthetic drugs, before driving. The gendarmerie has been entrusted with investigations into suspected drug violations.
According to the latest information on their state of health communicated by the prosecution, the driver and his son are still hospitalized in intensive care in serious condition.
In addition to this case, which triggered a media storm, there are now investigations against the comedian into the possession of child pornography images, launched after a report was made to the police. At this stage, no charges have been brought against him in this new case. His Parisian home and his house in Seine-et-Marne were searched, computer equipment was seized. A man was indicted on Saturday for dissemination and possession of child pornography and placed under judicial supervision as part of this investigation.
Since the accident and the many high-profile revelations about Pierre Palmade’s life, no one in his inner circle has spoken out, with the exception of one of his sisters who, in a statement, said on February 14 that he was “ashamed” and “would bear all the consequences of his actions, with the terrible awareness that he can never undo the wrong he has done”.