Last night was broadcast on TF1 le Mystère Daval, a TV movie inspired by the famous criminal case that took place in 2017. It concerns the murder of Alexia Fouillot by her husband, Jonathann Daval, the latter having denied this crime for several months. This is a fiction freely inspired by the case. Me Randall Schwerdorffer, lawyer for Jonathann Daval, regrets that the role of the lawyers, decisive in this case, has not been sufficiently transcribed on the screen.
The role of sidelined lawyers
” The story is faithful to reality, in part, but I don’t find myself there. There are several angles to approach the Daval affair, and it is true that the lawyers with whom I have exchanged find neither the atmosphere nor the role that we may have had. Nothing of that. It’s so investigator-focused, it’s quite far from our reality says Randall Schwerdorffer. The lawyer from Besançon is not wrong, because in this highly publicized case, taking on a national scale and ending in an extraordinary trial, the involvement of the lawyers was more than decisive. At every key moment, they were present, and sometimes played a decisive role. ” We have weighed all our forces on the file, and it does not show. During the confrontation, we do not see the role and work of Jean-Marc Florand, nor that of Me Spatafora. The reconstruction is hardly eluded. The work that we did during police custody with Me Spatafora does not come out at all […] We wanted to highlight the gendarmes, why not, it’s a way of seeing things. But it’s a bit restrictive I think continues Mr. Schwerdorffer. To support the words of the lawyer from Besançon, two characters were even invented from scratch: Captain Dacosta, played by Thierry Neuvic, and Chief Warrant Officer Magali Paulin, played by Vanessa Guide.
Premature release?
” I don’t really know what to say, it’s a bit strange feeling, none of the people involved in this case participated in the TV movie. We’re not interested in that. But I was expecting it, I wanted to see the way it was shot, how it was apprehended. And indeed, I wonder if it was not still too early to watch it says Randall Schwerdorffer. As a reminder, the trial opened on Monday, November 16, 2020 and ended five days later. Less than two years have passed. And the scars are still far from being completely healed. Martine Henry, Jonathann Daval’s mother, had already expressed her dismay in November 2021, when Gaumont acquired the rights to the book ” Alexia, our daughter », written by the parents of the victim, in order to make a series in six episodes. ” Jonathann does not agree with this film. He was judged, let him be! » had claimed Jonathann’s mother. More recently, in the columns of our colleagues from the Eastern Republican, Martine Henry deplored this fiction of TF1. ” I would like to be rid of all that, that we talk about it more. All those who make their sentences for very serious things like Jonathann. You have to leave them alone. The more we talk about their business, the more it hurts them in prison […] We didn’t want it to happen, but we had no choice. It’s going to stir everything up again, we don’t need that. It must be said that it hurts the families ”.
A badly transcribed atmosphere
Another omission from the TV movie according to the famous lawyer from Besançon: the general atmosphere that has gravitated around this affair. ” I think I’m a very bad spectator. I lived the case, I did not find the atmosphere. It’s completely unbelievable, everything was crazy. There was an electric atmosphere, phenomenal, at all times of the procedure. Whether it’s reconstruction, confrontation, hearing, police custody. I did not find this extraordinary atmosphere that there was in the case. I think I was looking for her, I think all the speakers were looking for her, without finding her. It may be too difficult to translate today, probably because it’s still too early for this TV movie “. By advocating for the production of TF1, it is sometimes more difficult to convey emotions and establish an atmosphere through a screen than when you have experienced the situation yourself, for several years, immersed in a strong atmosphere. However, it is true that some crucial and revealing moments sometimes lacked sincerity, spontaneity and depth. But this telefilm remains above all a fictionalized fiction.
Interview with Me Randall Schwerdorffer:
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