Death of Amadou Koumé after an arrest: three police officers will be judged for involuntary homicide

The investigating judge concluded that the violence, exercised without the “intent” of “injury” had “not been committed in an illegitimate way”, but considers the three officials responsible for “negligence” which leads to Mr. Koumé’s death.

Le Monde with AFP

Three police officers were returned to the Correctional Court for Homicide in relation to the interpellation that led to the death of Amadou Koumé in Paris in March 2015, according to the order for reference consulted by the France– Press (AFP).

The investigating judge relieves “the lack of discernment” of the officials who kept it on the ground for more than six minutes on the belly, hands handcuffed in the back, in a bar near the station of North then that he “no longer presented any danger for others”. The death of this father, who was manifestly in the middle of the psychotic episode, had been observed at the police station where he had been conducted, in the night of March 5 to 6, 2015.

The final medical expertise concluded that Mr. Koumé succumbed to a “pulmonary edema” caused by “the association of slow mechanical asphyxia and poisoning to cocaine”. It added that “the cervical and laryngeal trauma” led by a bottlene key had “participated in the occurrence of this asphyxiation”, also “favored” by its asset on the ground. According to the order of reference, rendered on November 2, “the death could have taken place without cocaine impregnation and the mere fact of slow mechanical asphyxia”.

“Negligence” which led to His death

A first crew of policemen had not managed to master Mr. Koumé, a man of 1.90 meters and 107 kilograms struggling. A police officer of the anti-criminal brigade had then lent hand-strong by proceeding with a strangulation key of a few tens of seconds. He had then received a clenoid shot and took over the throttling for two minutes. This official qualified before the judge his gesture of simple “headfield”, consisting of squeezing the chin and not Mr. Koumé’s throat, maintained on the ground on the belly by another police officer.

Inquiries for the criminal qualification of “voluntary violence that led to death without intent to give it”, the agent having made the bottlenee escapes the foundation. The judge concluded that the violence, exercised without the “intent” of “injury” had “not been committed in an illegitimate way”.

On the other hand, the magistrate blames the three policemen never having checked Mr. Koumé’s state of health and the esteem responsible for “negligence” who led to his death, justifying their trial for “homicide involuntary”. Solicited, Eddy Arneton, a lawyer of the victim’s family, did not want to comment. Defense lawyers did not wish to comment or did not answer, Friday night, to the solicitations of AFP.

/Media reports.