The conditions for legitimate defense (…) are not met: The police officer who killed Olivio Gomes sentenced to 10 years in prison for murder

Since Monday, Gilles G., a former officer of the anti-crime brigade (BAC), has been on trial for the murder of Olivio Gomes, a 28-year-old man killed on the night of October 16-17, 2020.

A rare sentence. On Friday, March 27, the Versailles Assize Court found Gilles G., the officer who killed Olivio Gomes, guilty of murder and sentenced him to ten years in prison. Although unusual, this sentence remains well below the maximum penalty for such offenses, which is thirty years.

The court president detailed that although the officer “has always claimed he saw himself dying, the conditions for legitimate self-defense, which must be assessed based on objective facts, are not met,” following over six hours of deliberation.

Since Monday, Gilles G., a former officer of the anti-crime brigade (BAC), has been on trial for the murder of Olivio Gomes, a 28-year-old man killed on the night of October 16-17, 2020. Yesterday, on the last day of closing arguments in the trial, the public prosecutor, David Sénat, called for “justice” for society, a “victim” in this case of “the loss of one of its own in a violent context, due to the abuse of its guardians’ powers.”

The magistrate also requested provisional execution of the prison sentence, prohibition from holding any security function in the public or private domain, permanent prohibition from carrying a weapon, and seizure of his weapons.

A version contradicted by video surveillance

That night, Gilles G. and his two BAC colleagues were in a black Passat with “police” markings. On the ring road, the officers were tailing a vehicle in the Parisian suburbs. They took the A13 and discreetly followed the Clio for about twenty kilometers.

Inside the small car was Olivio Gomes. According to the officers, the near-thirty-year-old was driving “at high speed” and making “swerves.” However, this version is largely contradicted by the exploitation of video surveillance. The footage indeed shows that Olivio Gomes’ vehicle was driving fast but without breaking any traffic laws.

The officers claim that after about fifteen minutes, they signaled for Olivio Gomes to exit the highway, which he did not immediately comply with. The young man took the next exit and continued on to his home. At the foot of his residence in the Beauregard neighborhood in Poissy (Yvelines), Olivio Gomes turned off the engine. It was then that Gilles G. got out of the vehicle and pointed his weapon in his direction.

“He wanted to escape from the police”

With a gun aimed at him, Olivio Gomes reportedly tried to restart his car. Three shots followed. The second, fatal shot pierced the young man’s two lungs and thoracic aorta, causing him to die on the spot. Gilles G., who claims to have acted in self-defense, stated that the driver had tried to run him over with his vehicle.

“I was sure I was going to die,” stated the officer on Wednesday. But according to the public prosecutor, Olivio Gomes “used his vehicle not to kill, but to flee. He wanted to escape from the police.”

“I have no reason to believe the officers’ version because they lied so much during the procedure to fabricate evidence. Lies about the speed, swerves, turn signals, traffic density… fraudulent consultation after the shots,” David Sénat criticized. According to him, self-defense should be ruled out and the intention of homicide fully established.