"Title:" "ABOLITION#2 Episode:" "PART 2 Story:" "Lang:" "ENG" "The defense, son, it's a whole." "You must be committed to it." "I teach law students." "How will I look at them if defending a life, the life of this man," "I don't tell the truth to the jury fearing a professional penalty?" "The hearing is suspended!" "Have you ever had a case risking death penalty?" "Never. lalala" "This is Mr. Badinter." "Badinter accepted to join me in your defense." "Your hands don't have blood." "You can't be sentenced to death." "He who hadn't killed, justice shouldn't kill." "Did you slit nurse's throat?" "No!" "Did you stab her?" "No, I didn't!" "Swear it!" "Bontems, swear it!" "I swear!" "I swear!" "You did all you could." "In consequence, the court and the jury, condemn Buffet and Bontems to death sentence." "Perfect!" "Murderers!" "What could have I said that I didn't?" "The death of a convict is injustice uncut." "The only thing that takes the lawyer his reason of being." "Mr. Badinter, please!" "Counselor!" "Counselor, please!" "I'll never accept a justice that kills." "BUFFET AND BONTEMS EXECUTED AT DAWN" "Ten to one he won't show." "Imagine how he feels." "Take the train to come at 8:30." "His head must be somewhere else." "I couldn't..." "ABOLITIONffff" "Hello." "Today we'll talk about the waiver of referred subscription rights for the raise of curves in corporations." ""Madam, Roger said many times he was a believer." "In his misfortune," "and took the communion." "and that God will be merciful." "Regarding you, Sir, and as an ex soldier, for your information, he was brave until the last minute." "that your son didn't have" "the end how much he loved you."" "If Pompidou supported the abolition as we thought, he'd have granted clemency to Buffet inspire of being a recidivist." "It'd have been the end of the death penalty in France." "But he didn't even grant clemency to Bontems who didn't kill." "I know two things:" "the first one is that death penalty won't be abolished right away," "PART TWO and the second, is that I'll fight for it with all my being." "FEBRUARY 1976, 4 YEARS LATER" "I insist, don't warn the police or you won't see your son alive." "Behind the bar, there's a parking lot." "On a post, you'll see your son's jacket." "Put the bag with the ransom there and if..." "Don't forget the visit to the jail of Lyon, his handshake with an inmate." "Giscard confessed many times his despise for death penalty." "Why isn't it abolished right away?" "Give him time, he passed the abortion law." "Thanks to whom?" "The left-wing, fortunately." "The voice of the left-wing will be there too this time." "Giscard is liberal:" "he wants to be in history as he who abolished the death sentence." "It's good to be young." "But, where are we going?" "We couldn't find a big auditorium in Paris." "We expect more than 500 people." "For a conference on abolition maybe it's too big." "You look worried, it'll be all right." "There's still a long way." "Sure, as you say." "In countries were death sentence was abolished violent crimes didn't increase." "All research is unanimous." "Its supporters are well aware." "But they don't care, a murderer must pay the crime with his life." "Just to join other supporters, they say capital punishment has deterrent attributes." "It was just announced on the radio a child was kidnapped." "The kidnapper demands a ransom, if not, he'll kill him." "Don't you think that deserves death?" "I think it does." "Your feelings are understandable and we respect them, but I repeat once again, death penalty doesn't have any deterrent attribute." "This man knows what he risks and still, he does it." "We aren't a barbaric society anymore that applies an eye for an eye." "Besides, justice isn't infallible, judiciary mistakes are..." "I'm sorry, but it's just a speech." "Excuse me?" "It's just a speech," "I think like him, in certain cases, it's justified, especially, when a child dies." "Now, it happens every day." "At Marseille, Ranucci kidnapped an 11 year old boy and killed him, today, it's in Troyes." "In Troyes?" "Yes, in Troyes." "I heard it in the radio on my way here, an 8 year-old boy kidnapped after school." "Please, get in touch soon." "Through the intermediary you want, a counselor, a priest, a doctor, whoever you want, I beg you!" "We'll pay, but please, give Philippe back to us." "We beg you, give us back our son." "Patrick!" "Patrick!" "Do you blame the police?" "Of what?" "Of unfairly accusing you of the kidnap." "Look, I don't..." "The police did its job." "In these cases, you can't underestimate any hint." "It's shameful to attack kids." "I wish they find the kid alive, and, of course, they get the kidnapper." "I'll tell you what:" "we don't have the right to attack a kid, we don't have the right!" "In this case, I support death sentence." "Thanks." "What else do you want?" "So?" "I won't speak without a lawyer." ""Le Monde" writes in its heading Gicquel's phrase:" ""France is scared."" "He said it at the beginning of a TV show, and, besides, Mr. Lecanuet, the Minister of Justice said:" ""Law says that if a child is taken hostage and murdered, the assailant receives death sentence."" "Poniatovski added:" ""If I were a jury, I'd vote for the death sentence only if the murderer himself accepts the punishment."" "That is pushing the justice!" "I've never seen that!" "The Minister of Justice and of the Interior." "What was of the separation of powers?" "François, tell them we'll accept to do the interview." "You asked me, now that many claim death sentence," "be heard." "of this drama," "I mean, the families, claim for death." "But, justice, can't do it." "Death penalty must be rejected." "Because by doing it, we state life is sacred." "Still for those who sin." "A minute, please." "Sir!" "This is the list of calls you received." "I left the mail on your desk." "Thanks." "The TV network called." "Your statement unleashed a storm." "TV viewers talk of scandal and provocation." "I feared that'd be the outcome." "I'm not sure." "Mr. Bocquillon called, he'll call back later." "Mr. Bocquillon." "The dean of Chaumont's Bar Association." "He is defending Patrick Henry." "Yes, I know." "Do you wonder why he calls?" "He knows everything already." "I mean, what is known so far." "I know the idea of going back to Troyes four years after Bontems' trial must be painful." "Thanks..." "But maybe the trial will take place somewhere else." "Considering the agitation caused by this case, a calmed debate can't be guaranteed." "So?" "Shall I tell Patrick Henry to name you formally?" "I'll think about it." "I must discuss it with Elizabeth." "The light softened the features, faces were pale." "I looked at them all:" "guards, policemen, the Health Secretary, the Prosecutor." "And I'm sure me too, we had such an expression... we all looked like murderers." "Only the priest and Bontems... had human faces." "Here, with the guillotine a few feet away, the crime had changed, physically, from field." "This time you'll keep it from getting there..." "Anyway, you can't say no." "When you go back to Troyes, to that crime court, it won't be easy." "What are those letters you burn?" "A little bit of everything." "Death threats, anti-Semite insults, insane writings..." "Since my TV interview." "Remember the crazy lady that shouted "Death, death", in Bontems' trial?" "It's that impulse for death we must fight, to convince the jury." "The key I didn't find to save Bontems." "It's the fundamental question." "Switzerland is a nice country." "It's calm, healthy, people have money." "I want to open a restaurant there." "It was my idea." "For the ransom." "I didn't think the kid would recognize me, he barely saw me and was only two years old." "I didn't meant to hurt him," "I thought the rich grandfather would pay immediately," "I didn't think they'd warn the police." "I was in the phone booth when I heard the police car approaching." "I panicked." "I left, I ran," "I ran nonstop." "At night, I went back to the kid's room..." "Did you share his bed?" "No." "I laid on the floor, on a mattress." "How was the kid?" "Was he crying?" "Did you give him anything to soothe him?" "A sleeping pill?" "Nothing at all." "On the contrary, he was nice, relaxed." "He watched TV, he thought his parents would come." "The day after, on the news at noon, the kidnap was mentioned." "I panicked and I didn't know what to do." "I didn't know how to sort it out." "And the kid began to worry." "So?" "So," "I lost my head." ""So, I lost my head." An amazing phrase." ""So, I lost my head," and now he risks it." "He said it because murderers can't speak of the moment of the murder." "Yes." "You're right." "He isn't the cold monster everyone says." "What's going on?" "Excuse me, I live here." "What happened?" "Mr. Badinter, a bomb exploded." "A handmade device, nothing serious." "Where?" "Which floor?" "On the second." "Excuse me!" "I hope you enjoy your dinner." "Here, it was somehow agitated." "Thank your neighbors." "They noticed the fire first." "The kids?" "They are fine." "You must convince them they can't go down using firemen's big staircase." "Can you call me a cab?" "Kids, my dear!" "Go to bed!" "Come, easy." "What's going on here?" "Come with Daddy." "Come, go to bed." "What are you doing?" "Dad, is it true that you love the murderer of the kid?" "I'll explain you, honey." "A lawyer must defend the defendant, even if he killed a boy." "But defend doesn't mean that I love him." "Do you see?" "Go to sleep." "Henry, listen that." "That's for you!" "Henry!" "Do you listen?" "It's your mate!" "It's an advance of what awaits you!" "Christian Ranucci was beheaded." "This morning, in a room in Baumettes, in Marseille." "We'll be back with more of this news." "Then, the weather today with Caroline." "Hello, Caroline." "Hello." "It'll be a summer day..." "A journalist wants to see you." "He says he knows you." "Thanks." "Dumoulin, from "Est Clair", do you remember?" "I wanted to know your opinion on the news." "What news?" "Ranucci was beheaded this morning." "The President had denied him clemency." "Didn't you know?" "Ranucci, the red sweater..." "I know who he is." "Who was." "I wanted to know your opinion." "Only his lawyers can talk about him." "And about the clemency denied by the President?" "It's his sovereign right." "The President only answers to his consciousness." "But to Henry, according to you, is it a bad signal?" "Hello." "Excuse me." "Enjoy your meal." "I was with your mother." "She didn't let off the hook." "She was worried about what she now calls "attack"." "Are you listening?" "With Ranucci there were doubts on his guilt." "He hadn't even demanded a ransom." "Not even the motive of the kidnap was clear." "The indictment was forced by the public opinion." "Testimonies are contradictory, all inflated by the press." "And that didn't kept Giscard, liberal, fan of Maupassant, from executing a young 20 year old man." "For Henry, we can't expect President's clemency." "His life will depend only on the jury." "We should..." "I'm sorry to bother you." "No problem, François." "Bocquillon called." "Our filing for incompetence was rejected by the appeal court." "The trial will take place at Troyes." "INDIGNATION" "Mr. Badinter!" "How do you feel returning to Troyes 4 years after Bontems?" "You were there!" "What are you doing?" "I didn't think I'd see you so soon." "Me neither." "I wasn't expecting to have the honor so quickly." "Ladies and gentlemen, the court." "The hearing is opened." "Why little Philippe?" "I knew the family." "I knew they were rich." "Explain me how did you kidnap the child." "It wasn't very hard." "I followed him a couple of days, I knew which school he attended." "One morning I picked him up and said:" ""Your father is delayed, I'll take you."" "Was he difficult to convince?" "On the contrary, he was happy." "He held my hand smiling and got in my car." "I though he should apologize to the parents." "He can't help it." "I never meant to kill him." "But you did it." "How?" "He was sitting on the bed, watching TV." "I was behind him, I took a scarf." "And then..." "I don't know..." "I don't know!" "They are 9." "Three married women, housewives, a craftsman, a worker, a farmer, an employee and two businessmen." "They have in their hands the life of Patrick Henry." "My brother was good to everyone." "Patrick was never a bad person." "He loved children." "And also money." "Did you love your brother?" "He was good to us." "But, say it, tell them you loved your brother!" "Say it!" "Yes, I love my brother!" "I love him!" "Mom!" "It's all right, you moved them." "A torment, we lived a torment." "Our grandson was everything." "He, on the phone, was as cold as a snake." "We felt he was in no hurry, because the boy was already dead." "The president of the League for the Human Rights can't come to the hearing due to a contingency." "Why the president of the League?" "Tomorrow, I'll have a letter from him, explaining League's opposition to death penalty." "I'd like to read it to the court." "It is out of question, out of the subject matter." "The President rejected Ranucci's clemency and he'll reject Henry's." "Yes, I know." "That is why I'll confront their responsibility." "To make them face Henry's death." "I'll make this trial, death penalty's trial." "Excuse me." "Don't you recognize me?" "I'm the jury you rejected." "Can you tell me why?" "I'm sorry, it wasn't against you." "You're a school principal, and the kidnap took place in front of a school." "So it was that..." "That I can understand." "I wanted to say I belong to the League for Human Rights and that I support abolition." "But that, of course, you couldn't know." "No, I couldn't." "What a shame." "Enjoy your meal." "Thanks." "Aurelie!" "Hi, François!" "I was expecting you, I missed you." "I walked Buffet and Bontems to the guillotine." "I'd like to tell the jury the reality behind these two words:" ""death penalty."" "And that?" "Isn't it worse?" "You shouldn't respond to horror with horror." "Mr. President, can we let the witness talk?" "We aren't at the Parliament debating death penalty." "It's here and now we should debate it." "Tomorrow you and the jury will decide on this man's life." "Do you think we need that much information?" "Yes, as opposite to the abbot and some other few here, nobody here had the chance, or the disgrace, to witness an execution." "André Lwoff, microbiologist, Noble Prize of Medicine." "I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth." "Mr. President." "The witness doesn't know the defendant or the facts." "He is outside this issue." "He won't say anything to enlighten the court." "As the Crime Code establishes," "I ask his statement to be forbidden." "It's evident the Prosecutor wants the defendant's head." "Except if he states the opposite." "Denying to listen to our witness talk about death penalty is to deny the jury the right to be informed." "Women and men of the jury you must assume the responsibility, the toughest a human being can have:" "to decide on the life or death of a man and they forbid us to inform you." "What type of justice do we apply?" "The court leaves to debate whether it is convenient to hear defense's witness." "What makes a murderer react?" "Do we have the criminal drive?" "Our knowledge on the subject staggers there when we ask the jury to be aware of an irreversible decision:" "to give death." "Thanks professor for your testimony." "You're welcome." "After years heading the Criminology Institute, there's only one thing I can guarantee, that all research reaches the same conclusion:" "violent crime evolved without any connection whatsoever to the presence or absence of death penalty." "Its deterrent value is a myth." "For psychiatrists, the drive for death remains a mystery." "I don't know any case where a potential criminal had given up on committing a crime out of fear to be beheaded." "Or when he thinks he'll escape the police and commit his crime, or out of fear to be caught, he doesn't commit it." "But, life sentence or guillotine, the nature of the punishment is of little matter." "He seems to be outside, he doesn't say what he feels." "Assuming he feels anything." "As if the trial didn't matter to him." "It's terrible." "There are only words between him and the guillotine." "Robert, those must be your words." "There lays my problem." "You have a phone call." "Did you say anyone you were here?" "Hello?" "Is this Mr. Badinter?" "Who's this?" "I'd be willing to kill a fucking Jew." "Did you hear?" "A fucking Jew." "Are you all right?" "Who was it?" "Nobody." "The child was strangled with a thin, flexible rope." "No doubts, a rope..." "The defendant never mentioned a rope, but a scarf." "Scarf, rope, whatever." "Patrick Henry acknowledged the crime." "The scarf is an impulse, the rope, premeditation, that's the importance." "I'm categorical." "The sample analyzed had traces of alcohol and barbiturate." "Contrary to continuous denials, the kidnapper drugged him before killing him in his sleep." "Are you sure the sample had the victim's blood?" "The expert who carried out the first checks, certified the origin of the blood." "There are no doubts." "You listened to the professor." "And I ask you too:" "did you give barbiturates to the child?" "I insist," "I just gave him water and orange juice." "No wine, no sleeping pills." "I'm opposed to him questioning also the defendant!" "This is France, for God's sake!" "This isn't America!" "Still, if it's proved, it is Henry's word against science." "Fighting like this, I tire the jury." "I must stop." "We must focus on the jury, allegations are coming." "Right, take care of your voice, you'll need it." "I've never asked for a penalty that I hadn't pronounced as a jury before with my soul and my conscience." "You'll judge and evil man, the author of a crime even more despicable than Buffet and Bontems', also judged here, five years ago." "And I doubt this being can be called man!" "A society has the right to defend itself." "It doesn't have the right to endanger the life of innocent victims." "Without hate, passion or weakness, you'll apply our country's law." "In this room there's a strong smell of blood, the victim's blood, a boy sacrificed by a man who hasn't grown up yet." "Another child." "I beg you, men and women of the jury, to forgive this other kid's life." "Don't do it." "Don't do it." "Mr. Badinter, your time to speak." "Counselor, your time to speak." "It isn't a big process." "All this, this madness, this agitation, this rage, all this will end tonight." "But it won't be the end for him, or for you." "It won't be for me either." "Mr. Prosecutor here mentioned Bontems." "With Lemaire we walked him down that sinister corridor, from the death row, where we woke him up at dawn, until the black platform where the guillotine was." "Mr. Prosecutor, did you forget that night?" "repentance or emotion." "And as impiously Mr. Ambre concluded, lawyer of the civil party, I quote:" ""In his look, the tormented parents of the child, didn't see any remorse."" "In this moment, at Troyes, it's the time for defense lawyer's allegation." "to save the defendant's head." "Here, in Troyes, among those shouting "Death", at Buffet and Bontems' trial, there was a young man called Patrick Henry." "If you condemn him, we'll walk the same path with abbot Clavier, and now, Mr. Bocquillon." "Beheading means to take a man and cut him, alive, into two." "That is what the Prosecutor asks." "The responsibility of this decision is yours." "After this, be aware that there will be no appeal, because there are no grounds." "Be aware that there won't be clemency, because the President denied it to Ranucci, and Henry's crime of more despicable than his." "You're alone, alone!" "to decide about the life or death of this young man." "They ask you to say: "I want this man dead." "That you grab him and take him to the guillotine, and that you cut him, alive, into two." "I received this letter from Ranucci's mother, a 22 year old young man who has just been executed." ""I write you today so that you tell Henry's family that I join them in this inhuman torment." "I prey for your son to be saved." "I got sad and cried like them when reading and hearing the details of the trial, where death penalty's supporters give proof of their ferocity." "They don't think that some day their son or brother can be in that place." "I'm the mother of a young man sentenced to death," "Christian Ranucci"." "And I finish here." "If you vote as the Prosecutor asks," "I tell you time will pass, as well as the agitation and the support you have today, you'll live with the decision, alone." "Alone!" "Death penalty will be abolished and you'll be forever connected to this verdict." "And your children will know that one day you sent this young man to the guillotine and you'll see their look." "Patrick Henry, do you want to make another statement?" "I'll try." "I couldn't express anything, everything was going on inside." "I regret it from the bottom of my heart." "After such a long time," "I wish to apologize to the parents." "I want you to know that I loathe what I did and that I suffer... for not repairing it." "I can't..." "The court leaves to deliberate." "What's the matter?" "The riot police are surrounding the Courthouse." "The President requested it." "If the verdict isn't death, there'll be more people outside." "They look at him." "Last time, they didn't look at Bontems." "Sit down." "To the question:" "is the defendant guilty?" "The answer is yes, by majority." "To the question: are there any extenuating circumstances in favor of the defendant?" "The answer is yes." "...life sentence." "The session is raised." "I won't return to the death row." "You can't stay here, follow me!" "Thanks, thanks!" "He was lucky." "Me too." "Today, we'll begin studying the rights of corporations in Europe." "...the appeals court said:" ""I deeply believe that..." "Hello, Counselor." "Hello, Mrs. Berry." "Such a nice day." "at Troyes' crime court. "That is the big lesson of this verdict." "Why don't we have the right" "in our Codes..." ""The jury didn't absolve Patrick Henry, it condemned death penalty..."" "From "Le Nouvel Observateur"." ""The death of death penalty" from "Le Point"." ""Thanks to Troyes' jury, we hope not to make resound ever again the sinister echoes of this justice," from "L'Express"." "Mr. Peyrefitte!" "Mr. Minister of Justice!" "In your youth, you wrote a book against death penalty." "You headed the committee for studies against violence, do you have the same opinion as a Minister?" "How do you react towards the assassination of the German boss?" "I've heard about it." "The police found his body." "In the trunk of his car." "France isn't an island isolated from Europe." "There isn't only the Baader band, there's also the ETA in Spain, the IRA in North Ireland, the Red Brigades in Italy." "My first reaction?" "Democracy is fragile, and we can't be off guard." "Beyond my convictions, it's clear that in face of these threats, it isn't the moment to be deprived of this lethal weapon that represents the capital punishment, the only one that can deter terrorists." "Ladies and gentlemen..." "It's clear elections are close." "And that, according to polls, they won't risk touching death penalty." "In his grave, Jaurès must be smiling." "And we owe that smile to you." "The heir of this chain comes from Hugo, until our dear Jaurès, passing by Clemanceau." "Abolition is an essential article of the republican faith." "It's an honor for the left wing to inscribe it in its government plan and, I'm convinced, that it's us, old Jaurès' party, who must vote abolition." "Why not inviting you to one of the meetings?" "Thanks, but, did you see the last polls on TV?" "63% favors death penalty." "It's called the "widow," the "national razor,"" "of death penalty?" "It's very difficult." "I'm glad to be here today, it's very difficult." "First, it's a phenomenon of identification with the victim, and by that, I mean, with victims' parents." "They're identified with the father whose son was murdered, whose wife was murdered." "Evidently, here is where the death drive is born, it's a human reaction." "But we don't identify with other victims." "It's difficult to imagine oneself as the parent of a murderer." "And that's why it happens, I know..." "I mean, we might be the father  who will be beheaded, that, no." "But, is there another justification to keep death penalty in France?" "None." "All studies in the world show that the curve of violent crimes isn't connected." "No, death penalty has another goal." "Something very real I won't mess into." "It has a political function." "For our ruling class,  allows them say:" ""We're ready for everything, the most dreaded actions, to fight against crime."" "That is death penalty." "It's politicians' alibi." "Do you still believe in abolition?" "It's inevitable." "the principle death penalty, as I wrote many years ago," "hasn't arrived yet." "support its existence." "Peyrefitte ended quoting Camus' Caligula:" ""It's too soon to react:" "the people today would be against us."" "So you don't have Camus' monopoly." "In any case, he attributes himself the monopoly of "The Hypocryte."" ""Nothing is more enlightening  regarding death penalty."" ""Mr. Badinter's brilliant article has, besides author's great talent," "we feel it isn't our task to have to react against it."" ""Mr. Peyrefitte has many style goodness for me." "Actually, the Minister knows it well:" "in France." "Abolition is inevitable." "It's a part of the evolution of our justice and..."" "Again all injuries and threats." "Had I known it, I'd have enlarged the fireplace." "Maybe you should accept the offer from the Chief of Police to keep you safe." "You know very well it's worthless." "Will you struggle like this much longer?" "Or will it stop?" "With the elections." "THE LEFT WING AGITATED" "Boss!" "Boss!" "What is it?" "You said that when the time is ripe, you'd accept to give me a hand." ""With the annulment of the verdict that condemns me to death," "I must appeal immediately" "I ask you, therefore, to defend myself in front of the court of appeal." "As you did for Patrick Henry."" "Why not?" "Mine was worse!" "He's called Michel Bodin." "He murdered an old man." "His file is overwhelming:" "before breaking his head, he tortured him into confessing where he hide his money." "You should reject it." "Henry's trial has just finished." "They will understand..." "Other colleagues can defend him." "They will be waiting with all ammunitions." "Whether you like it or not, you became the incarnation of abolition in France." "Why compromising everything with a potential mistake?" "Bodin called me, what should I do?" "Last month, it was Carrein, a weak alcoholic, beheaded at Douai." "Now, Hamida Djanjoubi is in danger in Marseille." "I didn't think the road would be this long." "Maybe Binet was right." "There's more to lose than to win at Nantes, besides, these processes wear you out, there are a lot of proofs, you must looks after yourself." "No matter the crime, I'm asked to defend them." "I can't say no." "If I don't do it and they're sentenced to death," "I'll be to blame for letting them die." "You'll be received coolly." "For them, you violated the conscience of Troyes' jury." "Anyway, this boy is indefensible." "The devil, with its black arms, but the guillotine on the defendant's bench, instead of Patrick Henry." "it's out of question now to defend death penalty." "You were taken away your main weapon." "You planned, with your partner and a friend of hers, to make him drink until he sleeps to steal his money." "And, drunk, he jumped over him and punctured his eyes to make him confess where he had the money, before hitting him with a chair..." "That is a lie!" "It wasn't me!" "I never punctured his eyes!" "Never!" "Miss, did you hear Bodin asking the old man where he kept the money?" "I didn't see anything, I went out when he was hit with the chair." "But before, did you threaten him with taking his eyes out?" "No." "But, if the old man was hit right away, when did Bodin threaten him?" "I don't know!" "I said I didn't see anything!" "You declared... that the old man looked suspicious and that he had said:" ""I saw you well, and believe me, I have you photographed."" "Do you confirm this?" "But Bodin and the old man had known each other for years, because they were neighbors." "So he was speaking of you when he said he'd recognize you with the police?" "What the hell!" "We aren't judging you, tell the truth, you don't risk anything." "Nothing to change." "Miss, for you, this issue is finished." "You were 5 years in prison already!" "Tell the truth." "If there are no more questions, take the witness out." "Counselor, can a person have his eyes punctured and still be conscious?" "I mean, without trying to close his eyelids?" "Because victim's eyelids where intact, right?" "Wouldn't it be natural that they were damaged as well?" "Of course." "So the old man was already in a deep coma." "Or already dead?" "We may assume that." "Doctor, the accuracy of the task, the two tiny needle punctures in the center of the iris, would it be compatible with the defendant being drunk?" "Doesn't it look like a surgical act or a sewing work, as it's taught at higher education institutes as the one our last witness used to attend to?" "Bodin's partner." "Actually, it's of no importance whether it was she or not." "What really matters is that it wasn't Bodin, because the old man was already dead." "Anyway, it isn't useful to torture someone whose dead is already broken to make him talk." "It wasn't me, it's a lie!" "I didn't puncture his eyes!" "I've just heard that Evry's court sentenced Mohamed Yahiaoui to death." "The Tunisian worker who asked you to defend him." "Yahiaoui." "Sentenced to death!" "And now Bodin risks the same fate." "You have nothing to reproach to yourself." "His trial was at the same time as Bodin's." "His father was an alcoholic!" "His mother, a beaten woman!" "As a child, he was sent with the Social Services." "But that doesn't matter for Mr. Prosecutor, those are only words to him!" "No suffering in his childhood that broke his foundations down." "He was only jumping from home to home." "Running away time after time." "A psychiatrist diagnosed severe behavior problems!" "But that doesn't count." "From 13 to 20, he was in a mental institution, but that doesn't count either." "That doesn't keep expert psychiatrists for declaring him responsible for his acts, and Mr. Prosecutor for claiming his head." "No!" "The guillotine isn't a means to fight murderers, or to justify them." "It's only about a death impulse that polarizes the murderer." "Because it causes horror and fear at the same time." "Because it's another side of us that we reject and that, therefore, terrifies us." "To the question: is there, in favor of the defendant, any extenuating circumstance?" "The answer is yes, by majority." "In consequence, the defendant is sentenced to life prison." "One of these days, it won't happen anymore." "It must be abolished." "DECEMBER 1978" "VERSAILLES" "MOHAMED YAHIAOUI" "and cut him open, alive I'll be accused of being Nazi, but I didn't ask a genocide," "I loved my brother!" "Why such cruelty?" "If not, to prove your support to capital punishment..." "I'll be killed!" "...and in the name of French people," "FEBRUARY 1979 ...we could today condemn an old man!" "Sentence deterrents..." "MARCH 1979" "You must come to testify." "You did all you could." "Even going over Bar Association's Council." "is injustice uncut." "You won four appeals, one after another." "Yes, almost." "I want to make you a question." "Why is it that you always, in all defenses, you speak of defendant's childhood or adolescence?" "Because it's necessary to speak of the kid the criminal was." "To let them know that one day he was an innocent kid." "He was 14 when the Germans took his father and deported him to Sobibor." "Since then, it torments him." "About that night, he doesn't speak." "Your government, Minister of Justice, is always after funds to cover for the budget, we have a suggestion:" "save the executioner's salary." "Your question, Mr. Deputy, beyond its appearance, is whether death penalty will be maintained or not." "I'll tell you what," "I don't think it's fair for the Parliament or for the government, to solve such a controversial issue in a rush." "The government thinks that absolute conditions to abolish it in France must be established first, a safe environment." "Can you come, Sir?" "To save executioner's salary there must be a reason." "Norbert Garceau's sentence was annulled." "It was sent to appeals in Toulouse." "I don't need to say again what I think." "No, it isn't worth it, I know what you think." "Excuse me if this feels like conspiracy..." "But I needed to talk to you personally." "This time, he acknowledged it, it won't happen:" "Garceau is a recidivist, a perfect study case for supporters." "You know: "If he had been executed last time, his second victim would be alive."" "He can't force his luck." "I said this before, but here we risk this case being one too many." "Not only Garceau is at stake." "Abolition is too." "If he loses, it'll be an important step for death penalty supporters." "Not even mentioning his health." "Every time I see him getting into these cases, I fear the worse." "You're the only one who can talk to him." "Thanks, François, I know my role." "But even if I want to, I won't convince him." "It's his combat, his cause, his life." "I have no right to interfere, and, to be honest, I don't want to." "So, we're going to Toulouse." "We're going to Toulouse." "Badinter, crap!" "Badinter, jerk!" "Don't keep your hopes up, I have no choice." "It's our profession: to defend." "When it's a passion, it's inside of you." "And when you face it, when you reach deep down into yourself, only then... you know you're a lawyer." "It's the first time you talk to me like that." "When you returned from Indochina, where you were in Tonkin's campaigns, you got married." "And at 27, a good worker and husband, father to a 2 year old girl, you strangled a teen ager in the woods." "Is that correct?" "It's correct, Mr. President." "Condemned to 20 years in prison, then you got probation." "You met a young woman and you fell in love." "Four death penalties became life sentences by the criminal court, one after another, seems it works for him." "I hope there is no fifth." "The public opinion will end up wondering if justice isn't doubting about death penalty, to which it seemed very fond of." "I know, Minister, I saw the last polls." "I hope that in Toulouse it doesn't happen the same." "And, as 20 years later he did it again, what ensures us that in 20 years, under probation, he won't do it for the third time?" "So far, it's the second time," "I request a capital punishment." "Garceau's case is one of those where it can't be avoided." "I don't support death penalty, but, in this case, it's mandatory." "The hearing is suspended." "Tell them what happened!" "Tell them about the cleansing at the Viet town on the Mekong, the screams of women being impaled." "Tell them those were the same screams, they were the same ones as the women you tackled!" "Tell them!" "How did they drive you mad!" "How it resounds in your head!" "Tell them!" "Yes, it was that, I couldn't take it anymore!" "It's over." "It's all said." "I can't do anymore for him." "He is in your hands." "Garceau is all yours." "To the question:" "is the defendant guilty?" "The answer is yes, by majority." "Are there, in favor of the defendant, extenuating circumstances?" "The answer is yes, by majority." "In consequence, Norbert Garceau is condemned to life sentence." "The hearing is raised." "Or Mitterrand is elected and death penalty abolished, or you're right and I got to jury's core." "Only one still applies it." "Only seven European countries keep death penalty among their legal weapons." "But only one applies it." "You've just received the call, he's leaving in half an hour." "Robert, look!" "You forget the documents!" ""The head of a citizen, fertilize, enlighten and moralize it, but never cut it," Victor Hugo." "Bievre street!" "Some notes, some figures." "One case, for now." "Thanks, Robert." "I don't mean to embark  making the opponents bleed." "In my consciousness..." "He won't speak." "Why do you say so?" "...that matches the faith of the catholic church, the reformed church..." "He'll stay there." "...all humanitarian associations, international or national." "In my consciousness, in my faith," "I'm against death penalty." "And I don't need to see polls saying the opposite:" "death penalty." "I'm a candidate for president of the republic, and I want the majority of votes, but I won't lie to myself." "I say what I think, what I believe in," "holds onto, my belief, my concern for civilization." "I'm not in favor of death penalty." "I'll do what it takes with a law I think it's abusive for a man..." "Now, let's hope he is elected." "Believe me, I won't be useful for your son, Mrs. Maurice." "I'll be more like a hindrance than a reinforcement." "I'm now identified with the fight against death penalty when I sit on the defense bench, it's as if the guillotine was already in the room." "He is accused of killing a cop." "I know, but trust your lawyers." "I know them well" "Lemaire and Pelletier are excellent." "Trust them." "And assuming the worse, if in appeals the verdict is annulled, as they have been doing systematically, in that case, I'll defend him." "Good bye, Counselor." "Good bye, madam." "Sit down, François." "It isn't just that." "It isn't only the feeling of being more dangerous than useful to her son's defense." "But, since Garceau's trial," "I fear I won't convince them anymore, not reaching to the core of the jury." "I can only assume the risk later on, in appeals." "If there's no other legal solution." "You're right." "It's true, but I feel like a deserter." "This law "Security and Freedom,"" "fights against urban crime, it attacks first car thefts, robbery, violence and deterioration which increase especially, among the young." "It establishes the toughest charges especially in cases of..." "Tell me what you're reading in your press meeting." "It's called "A Campaign to Poison."" "It's the requirements of Crime Court's Prosecutor." "Please, read." ""I state that while death penalty survives, sentences where this sentence is pronounced won't be annulled unless inconsistencies are observed."" "Mrs. Maurice is here." "She is waiting in your office." "Her son's request was rejected." "I've just found out, I'm sorry." "But, don't worry, we still have President's clemency." "But now, it'll be impossible." "He tried to escape." "There's an injured guard." "She was a young lawyer, when she learnt his appeal was rejected, she pitied him." "She gave him the gun." "The President was sent a petition signed by many personalities." "He is asked to put on hold all decisions concerning death penalty, until the day after the elections." "For political reasons," "Giscard can't execute any convicted when a coming election may decide on its abolition." "If Mitterrand is elected, you'll be granted clemency." "I'm sure, you'll see." "MAY 10, 1981" "Five, four, three, two, one..." "of the republic." "Thanks God." "According the vote's counting, Mitterrand was elected..." "Hi, Mom." "Have you heard the news?" "Another news from your Mitterrand?" "I mean his new cabinet." "How does it feel to be the Mom of the new Minister of Justice?" "You?" "It was just announced on TV." "Haven't you seen it?" "Minister of Mitterrand?" "Who else?" "I'd have preferred De Gaulle." "Dad would have liked me to be Minister." "Me too, dear, as it makes you happy." "SEPTEMBER 17, 1981" "Mr. President, Mr. Minister of Justice, dear colleagues." "This is a historical moment." "With us, France will overcome this long period where it remained aside from civilized nations." "Thanks to you, a long fight is over, a long fight reaches an end." "Because today, we'll write the history, so that each one thinks, with an open heart..." "What is he thinking about?" "I don't know what but I know who: his father." "Each one can think out loud, to determine the best or to put an end to doubts." "Each one can write, as an honor to the Assembly, the Parliament, and the group that, with you, Mr. Minister of Justice, a new chapter of the memories of our times." "Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen deputies." "I'm honored, in the name of the national government, to demand to the National Assembly the abolition... of death penalty in France." "LAW OF OCTOBER 9, 1981 ARTICLE 1" "DEATH PENALTY IS ABOLISHED."