Death in police custody in Saint-Ouen: an investigating judge appointed, the State owes the family the whole truth

Mauricio K. was 44. A painter who came to France from Angola at the age of 8, according to AFP, he died on Tuesday 27 October in a cell at the Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine police station (Seine-Saint-Denis). On Thursday evening, the Bobigny prosecutor's office released the first autopsy findings, and the investigation was handed to an investigating judge, as reported by Actu17 and franceinfo.

The facts

According to the prosecutor's account as reported by Actu17, it all began on Monday 26 October, shortly before 3 p.m. The municipal police were called to a fast-food restaurant over sexist insults directed at a woman. The man, heavily intoxicated (1.37 mg per litre of exhaled air), allegedly kept insulting the officers. He was arrested for sexist insults, insults and threats against persons holding public authority.

Still according to this account, he was very aggressive during the searches at the police station and tried to strike the officers. They say they pushed him back, used a telescopic baton on his left leg and abdomen, then restrained him on the ground. A doctor found his condition compatible with custody, which a second examination confirmed during the night.

On Tuesday, his custody was extended. At 2:58 p.m., he was found unconscious on the floor of his cell, where he was alone. Officers gave him first aid, firefighters arrived at 3:10 p.m., but he could not be revived.

The autopsy, carried out on Wednesday, found, according to the prosecutor, injuries linked to resuscitation, but also "areas of haemorrhagic infiltration" under the scalp, on the legs and on the arms. It notes a history of heart problems and concludes there was "no traumatic injury explaining the death". Toxicology and anatomopathology tests have been ordered.

The positions at stake

The Bobigny prosecutor's office describes the initial referral to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) as standard procedure when a death occurs in custody. According to AFP, it states that the officers involved will be questioned.

The family is not satisfied. The victim's father has filed a complaint for intentional violence resulting in death without intent to kill, committed by a person holding public authority. His lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, asserts that serious violence was committed during the arrest and disputes the theory of a simple heart attack. He denounced the "deafening silence" of the prosecutor's office and the IGPN, and is asking for the officers to be questioned by a judge.

The Socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, expressed his deep emotion and called, according to AFP, for the full truth to be brought to light.

The argument of those calling for restraint deserves a fair hearing. An intoxicated, aggressive man with a history of heart problems can die without anyone being at fault. Presuming the officers guilty would be as unfair as presuming them innocent. That is precisely why the investigation must be beyond reproach.

Analysis

Handing the case to an investigating judge is the right decision. It places the investigation under the authority of an independent magistrate and allows the family, if it joins the proceedings as a civil party, to access the case file. Under the rule of law, the authority of the police is not measured by the silence surrounding its possible mistakes, but by the transparency with which it agrees to account for them.

For the problem goes beyond Saint-Ouen. In an opinion published in the Journal officiel at the end of September, the Inspector General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty, Dominique Simonnot, found that the exact number of deaths in such places was, according to LCP:

"neither fully known, nor made public" — Dominique Simonnot, Inspector General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty

For police custody and sobering-up cells, the CGLPL identifies the lack of a prior medical examination and of "constant human supervision" as a serious risk to people's physical integrity. It also notes that the investigation into the causes of death rarely allows families to dispel "legitimate suspicions", and that the conclusions of the inspectorates are not systematically published.

The independent count by Bondy Blog, published in June 2025, already recorded eleven deaths in police stations over two years. In the absence of official figures, it is journalists and associations who keep the tally. This is not worthy of a great democracy.

The context makes the demand all the more pressing. For a month, the policing of the high school student movement has fuelled deep mistrust, and racism has been at the heart of public debate since the Trappes attack. If the State wants the law to be respected in the street on Saturday, it must show that it also applies, without exception, in its own cells.

Conclusion

It is for the judge, and the judge alone, to establish what happened between Monday afternoon and 2:58 p.m. on Tuesday. But lawmakers can act right now. Three simple measures, inspired by the CGLPL's findings, would rise to the occasion: automatic referral to an investigating judge for any death in police custody, continuous human supervision of people who are heavily intoxicated or injured during their arrest, and annual publication by the Interior Ministry of the number and circumstances of these deaths. Trust between the police and the public, which officers need as much as citizens do, is also built this way.

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence.