This is the last chance for Sophie Patterson-Spatz. The one who accuses Gérald Darmanin of rape is awaiting the decision of the Court of Cassation on her appeal filed after the dismissal of the case in favor of the current Minister of the Interior. The highest French court must make its conclusions public on February 14, a judicial source said on Thursday.
The day before, the Court of Cassation examined the admissibility of the appeal of the complainant, aged 52, during a non-public hearing. Both the rapporteur and the attorney general concluded that it should not be admitted, according to two sources close to the case.
Sophie Patterson-Spatz filed a first complaint for rape in spring 2017 against the current Minister of the Interior. Both admit to having had sexual intercourse in 2009. But Sophie Patterson-Spatz, who was then seeking his support to have a conviction reviewed, believes she was forced to “go to the pan”. Gérald Darmanin, then aged 26, allegedly told him: “You too will have to help me”.
A dismissal confirmed on appeal
For Me Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, lawyer for Sophie Patterson-Spatz, it is a “surprise rape” and an “extorted” sexual relationship, “neither free nor consensual”. For his part, the Minister of the Interior had claimed during the procedure to have “given in to the charms” of an “enterprising” complainant.
After investigations closed three times and procedural disputes, Sophie Patterson-Spatz obtained the appointment of an investigating judge in the summer of 2020. Gérald Darmanin was not indicted and he benefited from a dismissal of the case in July 2022, confirmed by the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal in January 2023. The complainant then filed a appeal to the Court of Cassation against this decision.