No recess for expert witness in the murder case of an escort lady
Published: Thursday, Dec 28th 2023, 12:11
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Two psychiatric experts in the murder case of an escort lady in the canton of Geneva do not have to recuse themselves. The Federal Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a man. The two experts had come to the conclusion that the perpetrator had psychopathic traits and that there was a risk of repetition.
At the beginning of December, the 43-year-old was sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment by the Geneva Criminal Court for the murder of an escort lady in 2019. The 34-year-old's body had been transported to France in a suitcase, where it was burned and buried. The court ordered custody. The man appealed against the first-instance verdict.
However, he lodged an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court against his request to recuse the psychiatrists, which was rejected by the cantonal judiciary in June 2022. The man is of the opinion that the experts displayed an "unacceptable bias".
Blame shifted
The Federal Supreme Court does not follow this view. It held that there was no arbitrariness and that there were no errors that could lead to the experts being suspected of partiality. The expert opinion therefore did not have to be removed from the files.
During the trial before the criminal court, the defense had tried to disqualify the psychiatric experts. However, the judges were not convinced by the defendant's version of events: he claimed that he had not been present when the escort lady was killed in his apartment. He had claimed that a young accomplice had committed the murder. (Judgement 7B_266/2023 of 6.12.2023)
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