Alain Jakubowicz, lawyer for Nordhal Lelandais. – JP. Clatot / AFP
- On Tuesday, the investigative chamber of the Grenoble Court of Appeal rejected the request for the nullity of the second psychiatric expertise of Nordahl Lelandais.
- The defense, which had itself requested this expertise, demanded that it be withdrawn from the file on the murder of little Maëlys.
- The report in question portrays a suspect “with an antisocial personality” and deviant sexuality. He also claims that Nordahl Lelandais was fully aware as to when he killed the girl.
A serious setback in the Lelandais case. This Tuesday, the investigating chamber of the Grenoble Court of Appeal rejected the “request for the nullity of a psychiatric expertise” from the former soldier in the file on the murder of little Maëlys, we learned from the prosecution.
Alain Jakubowicz, the suspect’s lawyer had requested that this expertise, which he himself had requested at the request of his client, be canceled. But the investigating chamber decided otherwise. It will therefore be kept on file and could constitute a charge against the former dog handler.
However, the defense has five days to appeal to the Supreme Court to challenge the decree issued on Tuesday, the Grenoble prosecutor’s office said.
“Antisocial personality” and deviant sexuality
This expertise, carried out by the psychiatric Paul Bensussan, affirms that Nordahl Lelandais did not suffer from “any psychic disorder” likely to have “abolished or altered his discernment or the control of his acts” at the time when he killed the girl. She also portrays a man “with an antisocial personality” and deviant sexuality, struggling to control his impulses.
“Despite the subject’s denials, the study of the file brings many arguments in favor of a diagnosis of pedophilia with the particularity that it would be non-exclusive”, write the experts.
First trial next week
The defense felt that Paul Bensussan lacked neutrality due to his participation in the show C in the air of March 30, 2018 dedicated to Nordahl Lelandais. According to Alain Jakubowicz, the psychiatrist should have declared himself incompetent when he was asked to carry out this expertise after the television program. The lawyer did not want to react to the decision of the investigating chamber.
The trial for the murder of little Maëlys could take place in the first quarter of 2022. In the meantime, Nordahl Lelandais will appear next week before the Assize Court of Savoy for the murder of Corporal Arthur Noyer, whose skull and then the bones had were found several months after his disappearance, reported in April 2017.