2023-12-12 10:28:00
The accident occurred on January 28. But Nathalie, the client, was born on January 28. How does this reduce his liability?
And then, this other argument, staggering when you think regarding it: following the accident she had caused, her car had been decommissioned. The lawyers argued that by losing the use of her vehicle, their client, following all, had already been punished.
The trial was held before the Brussels police court. Nathalie had cut a priority, the accident had left someone injured. But the accumulation of arguments carried weight. “The customer has lost the value of her car. She has been punished enough as it is. Don’t add to it.” And the judge ultimately did not impose a sentence.
He knocks down a pedestrian under the influence of drugs: the case is closed!
Refusal of priority
Friday January 28, 2022, 9:34 and 59 seconds: we know this precisely because there were cameras. The accident occurred at the Place des Armateurs in Brussels, along the canal. Coming from Square Jules de Trooz, Nathalie, driving her Citroën Berlingo, had to turn left to take Avenue de l’Héliport.
“The traffic light was green,” she said later. Okay, but the light was also green for vehicles arriving opposite from the Willebroeck quay. This was the case of a gray VW Polo which continued straight ahead, in the Allée Verte.
Nathalie, who had to give way, cut it off by entering the intersection. And the Berlingo hit the left side of the Polo, at the height of the driver.
The images, since there were cameras, show a violent shock. The firefighters had to extricate the driver of the Polo, a nurse who was leaving for work. The 38-year-old man was transported to Saint-Jean Hospital, as was Nathalie, who we agree was celebrating her birthday in a very funny way.
Arguments
In a criminal trial, the judge can decide to find that a person is guilty but not to impose a sentence on the condition that the person no longer commits new offenses for a certain period of time. We then say that there is “suspension of the sentence”.
For the trial, Nathalie called on the law firm Hamid El Abouti. The young woman appeared for “unintentional assault and battery” and for “turning left at an intersection, having neglected to give way to vehicles coming in the opposite direction on the roadway she was preparing to leave”.
We will see that a light argument + a light argument + a specious argument ends up tipping the scales. The tactic would serve to achieve an excellent result.
To begin with, the lawyers argued that “the client has already been punished since she herself, at the time of the collision, was very shocked.”
Then, they continue, she was further punished since her car “declared a total loss, was decommissioned”. His Berlingo was worth 6,000 euros. “The customer was therefore punished since she lost the entire value of the vehicle.”
”Does the driver who put me in this state thirty years ago ever think of me?”
Young driver
On its way, the defense then argued that Nathalie, a young driver, had only obtained her driving license the previous year, a provisional license issued during the Covid period.
Next argument: it had rained, “the wet road was slippery. She didn’t really see the car coming in front of her.”
Finally, Nathalie is a high school student who “does not have great financial means”.
And to conclude, the lawyer risked the birthday argument: January 28, 2022, was his 21st birthday. “Mr. Judge, it was his birthday.”
Cheaply
We were not present in the courtroom, rue de la Régence, but we know the decision that was pronounced. The lawyers might barely conceal their jubilation. By granting the suspension of the sentence, the court simply did not impose any sentence on the person who had cut a priority and in doing so, sent a motorist to the hospital.
The result is unexpected. Nathalie did not receive a fine. She will not have to retake her license.
The court sentences her to the minimum: 30 euros in legal costs and 24 euros to be paid to the Legal Aid Budget Fund. That is to say 54 euros total. The cost of a small speeding ticket.
Indeed, the lawyers might show a smile. As a birthday present, the judge might hardly do better.
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