Stealing wood stumps, settling accounts; what I heard in a French court of appeals
- Jamie Duffy
- 7 days ago
- 6 min read
Caen, France ---I’m not sure what I was expecting when I attended the morning hearing at the Cour D’Appel in Caen.
But one thing for sure, I expected cases to carry some gravity, possibly the same weight you might assign to a case in the state of Indiana’s Court of Appeals.
Instead, the cases were run-of-the-mill assault, battery and hit-and-run, the kind of cases normally settled in county courts.
Let’s just say it’s a different system here with some things that resemble our justice system and some, not so much.
This cour d’appel in Caen is part of the court for Normandy, a French department. If our system was set up the same way, we would probably have a court of appeals on a regional basis, but that’s just my take away.
There were three cases heard Friday (May 2) morning. Each case brought a few smirks in the general audience but not for the judge, Pascale Heimeijer, who kept a straight face the whole time, but gave away her incredulousness anyway. Her actual title is president of the court of appeals.
The first defendant, dressed in light blue jeans, a white knit shirt and sneakers - not exactly impressive attire - was accused of being the principal member of a group that attacked a man in September 2023 to “régler les comptes,” meaning they were out for retaliation.
During the assault, the victim “lost his lucidity” when his head was smashed into the ground, according to a police report Heimeijer read. When she read it, it sounded like a probable cause.
In the courtroom, the judge sits up high with the state’s prosecutor on her right and the greffier on her left. The greffier is like the court reporter.
The defendant sits on a bench with his defense attorney directly behind him, a few feet away from the judge. The victim is several feet across from the accused and the victim’s attorney, or deputy prosecutor, is right there.
For the defendant, his attorney noted there were “two versions” and for some reason, it was important that the court noted that the defendant owned his own business and is the father of three children. These facts were repeated at least a couple times.
Not sure what sentence is proposed because I walked in on this case, but the defendant will learn his fate on June 13 at 8:30 a.m.
Next one up was another head scramble. The victim was driving a Mercedes she’d just acquired in February, when the defendant, who denied everything, T-boned her just a couple of months later in some village in Normandy. Hard to say because French isn’t my first language, and there was no probable cause.
Just an aside, the French are always very welcoming when I turn up at a court. You are allowed to keep your cell phone on you, which I appreciate as well. Of course, you are expected to behave when you are in court, as one would expect anywhere, right?
But the French really do believe in an individual’s rights whether it’s the defendant or the press.
Anyway, the man accused of causing an accident and damaging this woman’s car denied ever even talking to the victim even though the gendarmes (local police) reported that he was indeed there.
The report that the judge read indicated that he had been drinking alcohol, to boot, and that he was driving dangerously. He shook his head “no” when she brought up alcohol and claimed he was sober.
“Was Mme Boret dreaming?” the judge asked him. “Les gendarmes? I have the official records here.”
As usual in this court, she established a couple of things about the defendant.
He didn’t have his driver’s license on him. He is 43 years old and single. His record included getting caught for taking “stupéfiants” and for “violence conjugale” (domestic violence.) Don't think it's necessary to translate stupefiants.
The avocat géneral who is the prosecutor for the state said the defendant didn’t have his license on him at the time of the accident nor did he have it with him Friday.
When the defendant stood in front of the judge, he turned to argue with the older lady who is his victim, as if that was going to help his cause.
He will learn his sentence June 27.
The third and final case was the one that cracked everyone up. The defendant stood at least 6 foot five which made him twice as tall as his elderly female victim.
Unfortunately for both of them, Mme Frémont’s “champ” or field is right next to his and the two hadn’t gotten along for a good long while. In fact, as Heimeijer pointed out as did the mayor of the little village of Donnay, the defendant, M. Couchet, is someone no one particularly likes. He has “a reputation.”
Donnay has 318 inhabitants, according to an online source, about 60 fewer than in 1793!
M. Couchet was accused of stealing some bois (wood) from the communal forest one morning in March 2023. M. Couchet said it was only “des souches” or stumps of wood, but the photos that were taken apparently indicated they were bigger than that and possibly worth 250 euros!
M. Couchet also said the stumps were lying by the side of the road and he was just cleaning up the forest.
The mayor of Donnay, Théophile Lecerf, stood to testify on behalf of Mme Frémont, and reiterated the wood that comes from the communal forest is not anyone’s to take.
Gendarmes visited M. Couchet at 2:30 p.m., a few hours after he took the wood. Apparently it was all burnt up! (I just love this story!)
About three months later, sometime in June, Mme Frémont was in her field to gather up some crops while her husband waited in the car because of his health problems.
That’s when M. Couchet called her an “espèce de morue” which is not at all a nice thing to call an old lady and he started being physically aggressive with her, all while her husband could see what was going on from 100 meters away.
Poor Mme Frémont was “affolée” and “blessée” that day which means she was totally distressed and physically injured. To this day, she is still affected by this aggression and has sores all over her arms and legs because of the stress.
I started to tear up when she got up to speak. An elderly woman getting pushed around like that? I thought of my own mother toward the end of her life and how disgraceful it was M. Couchet reportedly knocked his victim to the ground and even dragged her a bit. The judge read that bit as part of the record.
M. Couchet argued with everyone in court, even with the judge who had to remind him that it was her turn to speak. He stood with his legs apart in an aggressive stance, sometimes with his arms akimbo. He denied stomping over his victim's fields and ruining her crops and called her a menteuse (liar) and a fabuliste (storyteller.)
I guess it was when the court was arguing over the stolen wood that people had a hard time covering up their amusement. But la présidente, Mme Heimeijer, who, let’s face it has probably heard everything, never lost control.
You just wonder if M. Couchet was aware of the snickering behind him.
The judge went through his personal history; single, no children. I didn’t catch how old he was, but my guess is he’s in his 50s.
His record included being charged with stealing in 2000 and violence against someone in authority in 2009, the judge noted.
Outside the courtroom, after the hearing, the mayor said M. Couchet didn’t really have a job, but he thought he was involved in “agriculture,” maybe like what we’d call truck farming.
When I asked the mayor if M. Couchet might be sent to prison for the attack, he said, no, it’s not like in America.
Mme Frémont is asking for 2,000 euros to help cover medical costs which she continues to accrue because of the experience.
M. Couchet will not be allowed to speak to Mme Frémont for several years because there was a no contact order put in place.
M. Couchet awaits his sentence June 27.