Rochette was tried, and the case went against him, but again there
were illegalities in the trial. Information was communicated to the
court which was not, as the French law insists that it should be,
communicated first of all to the defendant or his lawyer. In the
course of the trial the liquidator, who had been officially appointed,
announced that he had distributed 50 per cent. to the creditors of
Rochette, and that he would be able to pay the 50 per cent. balance
integrally. Rochette lodged an appeal against the verdict, and at
the same time took legal action against Pichereau for making a false
declaration. His appeal was heard, dismissed, and judgment rendered,
by the Tenth Correctional Chamber of the Seine Tribunal on July 27,
1910—two years after his original arrest. The case was a long one,
very complicated, and proceedings had been obstructed legally, whenever
and wherever Rochette and his lawyers could obstruct them. The case,
however, provoked considerable scandal. Charges of illegality were made
by Rochette and his lawyer, Maître Maurice Bernard, in court and before
the case came to court, the Press took hold of the matter, and on July
10 Monsieur Yves Durand resigned and left the employ of the Prefecture
of Police. It was proved that this chef de Cabinet of Monsieur Lépine
was a sleeping partner in a stock-broking firm which had made a lot
of money by dealing in the shares of Rochette companies at the time
of his arrest, and though Monsieur Durand was not actually proved to
have profited by these transactions, grave suspicion rested on him
and made his official position untenable. On July 11, 1910, Monsieur
Jaurès brought the question of Rochette’s arrest before the Chamber,
and accused Monsieur Clemenceau in clear terms of having proceeded
illegally against the man, irrespective of his guilt or innocence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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