The Domenico D’ATRIA case: an opportunity to reflect on Justice

Presentation

I was Mr. D’atria Domenico’s lawyer and I continue to safeguard his rights on behalf of the civil parties: the widow, the orphan, the mother, the stepfather, the sister and the uncle. He used to say with consideration that when he couldn’t express himself, my plea reflected everything he wished he could say without having the ability to do so. From now on, I’m going to have to find out what decisions he makes when he’s not talking. My vocation is to defend those who hide in silence to be their voice.

Intervention

I don’t have access to the file — in any case, it’s a matter of confidentiality — but what I can tell you is that before he drew his last breath, he had contacted me to tell me that he had stopped smoking for the first time. He was so proud to have succeeded in freeing himself from it. He went on to pass both his theoretical and practical driving tests. He was really motivated, intoxicated by the favor of those who were pushing him to do good, and he took his chances by wanting to invest in a car rental and sales company. When I learned of his death, I wondered at the time what had been the point of all his ardent efforts to achieve such a brutal death.

He was a future researcher in career transition. He didn’t have the time to carry out his projects to the full. A certificate of good conduct does not, paradoxically, reveal what you have done well in your life, but some of these actions have weighed in the scales of justice.

In this case, justice has two pillars : the right to a fair trial, and at the same time the independence of the lawyer to freely invoke this right.

⦁ The civil party’s right to a fair trial via the right to equality of arms

Retaining self-defence at this stage without even having heard all the prosecution witnesses is totally premature, like my client’s death… 30 years! This is not the only avenue to consider. The information relayed about Monsieur’s past is overloaded. I exercise equality of arms to ensure that this does not lead to a feeling of demerit on the part of the citizen witness or spectator. Without going into the details and unraveling the truth and falsehoods involved in re-trying the case outside the courtroom, I’d just like to point out that he didn’t serve any time in prison during my defense — even if he had paid his debt to society. Epiloguer serait dévieri insidieusement le débat relatif à l’usage proportionné ou pas de la force en faisant feu de tout bois.

We’d testify for a good person, but for the one we’re labeling, would we speak at the cost of his comfort? The citizen’s duty is to bear witness to the very person some would like to disparage. The notion of merit is irrelevant, except for the meritorious dedication of a witness who would tell the court what happened, as part of a duty of remembrance for the orphan.
Intervention: witnesses afraid to speak out.

The first step is to check whether their fears are well-founded: other people may have already testified to what they were afraid to reveal. It is possible to testify in court in an informed way, by filling in an attestation form to already keep the details. Induced prejudices in a person can affect the accuracy and reliability of their memories, as can stress factors, such as the presence of a firearm causing a violent death.

Although this is a citizen’s duty, he or she also has rights. There is misinformation about the rights of witnesses. You just have to know them well and make the most of them.

⦁ Independence of the profession: a lawyer must practice his profession without intimidation of any kind.

Speech: the TV program « On n’est pas tous les jours dimanche » on the case.

A lawyer must be able to work freely without being confused with his client’s cause. Our role is to draw the public’s attention to their case, but also to discuss it appropriately with the authorities in charge. One of the speakers described the opposing argument as a smokescreen.
This is precisely the theme I was given to understand in another context on the day I learned of my client’s death! We might as well recontextualize the expression. 

A smokescreen is first and foremost a self-defence technique…

This defense may be legitimate because of its origin. In a secular publication, the very principle behind the use of smoke (pillar of cloud) lies in the exodus of Moses and the Israelites fleeing into the desert to avoid being killed by Egyptian persecutors. A smokescreen is usually used by the persecuted. If one side invokes self-defence while accusing the other of using a… legitimate defence technique, this confuses the mind.

When we’re really looking for the truth, we don’t just look through the prism of notorious expression, but check out the other side of the story, however disconcerting.

The intervention made me jump, because I knew its meliorative meaning, but especially in relation to the independence of the lawyer. Resistance to assaults on independence means leaping out of the machine, « disguising oneself as a deer » — as the saying goes. Independence is one of the fundamental pillars of justice in a state governed by the rule of law, as the presenter conceded. So it’s not smoke. While this may seem like itchy smoke and mirrors to citizens, it is guaranteed in the principles of the United Nations. A recommendation, for its part, gives the mission of guaranteeing the protection of members of the profession without having to be worried or pressured in any way.

When arbitrariness takes hold, the first two victims are always the same: the journalist and the lawyer. Freedom of means of action and expression is a prerequisite for the proper performance of the lawyer’s function. Today, relations with the public authorities pose considerable challenges to the independence of lawyers. However, it remains a functional condition inseparable from the lawyer’s primary role: defending his client.

Faced with such a brutal and incomprehensible death, the family wants the truth, whatever the outcome, favorable or unfavorable. They simply don’t want history to be rewritten. The attitudes of others can be a great support to them, but those who hurt them are a hindrance to their mourning, which is a little more painful. They responded to the feeling of violence by walking towards peace. They leave it to the courts to judge this case freely, without pressure and fairly.

Me Florence GOBRON

« Moïse et les Israélites ont été conduits à travers le désert par une nuée. Et lorsqu’ils s’arrêtèrent, « la nuée disparut devant eux et se plaça derrière eux, entre eux et leurs persécuteurs ». C’est dans cette histoire biblique que réside le principe de l’utilisation de la fumée en temps de guerre. Dans les guerres de l’Antiquité et du Moyen-Âge, la fumée a joué un grand rôle chez les Grecs, les Romains et les Romains. Ils donnaient des signaux avec des feux la nuit, mais avec de la fumée le jour. Lors de la bataille de Waterloo, la fumée des canons était si épaisse au-dessus de la ville qu’elle gênait les mouvements des troupes.