The 54-year-old actor suffered a stroke on Saturday, less than two days before the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision on his potential placement in pre-trial detention.
A health problem that can upset the investigation? The actor Pierre Palmade suffered a stroke on Saturday evening at the Paul-Brousse hospital in Villejuif where he was under house arrest, after his indictment for “homicide and involuntary injuries”. The 54-year-old actor was driving when a serious road accident occurred on February 10 in Seine-et-Marne.
The decision of the Paris Court of Appeal on the provisional detention of the actor or his maintenance under judicial control is expected Monday morning. But can the stroke that occurred less than 48 hours earlier influence this decision?
At least 3 hypotheses on the table
While the exact state of health of Pierre Palmade currently remains uncertain, several hypotheses are currently possible for Monday. Justice can first of all choose to keep the actor in the hospital so that he can continue to receive the necessary care there, as is currently the case at Kremlin-Bicêtre, in Val-de-Marne.
The Paris Court of Appeal can also decide to follow the requisitions of the prosecution and place the actor in pre-trial detention, considering that the stroke of Pierre Palmade does not change anything.
Another option is possible for Me Carbon de Seze, criminal lawyer. “(The magistrates) can very well take the decision to put (Pierre Palmade) in the hands of jailers, but postpone the date on which he will be placed in preventive detention”, he believes at the microphone of BFMTV.
This hypothesis would make it possible to favor the medical care of the actor without giving up his detention. A situation however “never seen” by lawyer Hector Lajouanie.
Strokes of very variable severity
These different options depend at least in part on Pierre Palmade’s current state of health. Is it compatible with pre-trial detention? The vital prognosis of the comedian is not engaged, according to the JDD et The Parisianbut the stroke “is not without consequence” on his state of health, according to our information.
Professor Bruno Mégarbane, head of the resuscitation and toxicology department at Lariboisière hospital, recalls that a stroke can take very varied forms.
“All extremes exist,” he says.
“The stroke can be minimal, transient and regressive and the person can have no stigma and live almost normally,” he says. In other cases, a stroke turns out to be “extremely serious, extensive” and can lead to “major destruction of neurological areas”, he adds then.
Essential “close (medical) supervision”
Either way, a stroke is never a trivial event and requires immediate medical attention. “We must generally remain a few days in very close monitoring of his neurological state”, indicates the doctor.
The caregivers also assess whether there is “a vital threat” on the “cardiovascular and respiratory” level for the patient and can consider giving him “intravenous treatments”.
In the specific case of Pierre Palmade, the stroke occurred when the actor was already being taken care of in a hospital in Villejuif for the injuries suffered in connection with his road accident. This is the “best configuration” possible for the actor who could be diagnosed very quickly, according to the neurologist at the Bichat hospital in Paris Pierre Amarenco.
“Mr. Palmade will most likely stay at least a fortnight in a specialized service,” however, estimates Professor Bruno Mégarbane.
A stroke that occurs in the middle of the “withdrawal phase”
Less than 24 hours before the decision of the Court of Appeal, the criminal lawyer at the bar of Versailles Hector Lajouanie considers the detention of Pierre Palmade as “unlikely” in view of his situation.
Especially since if the justice decides on detention, “there could be a doctor sent by the justice who decides on the compatibility of the pre-trial detention with his state of health”, he indicates, and the court could be “detried”.
“I do not believe that the occurrence of an acute stroke in the phase of cocaine withdrawal with enormous stress can be compatible with a transfer out of a hospital service”, also maintains Bruno Mégarbane.
Another question remains in the context of the investigation into possession of child pornography images targeting comedian Pierre Palmade. Would the actor’s state of health allow him to be auditioned on this subject? Searches were carried out at his homes, but he was never heard by the investigators on this issue.