Her toddler ingested cannabis; she got 4 months on an ankle bracelet
- Jamie Duffy
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
FONTAINEBLEAU, France ---A grand tableau painted on the entire wall of the courtroom at the Tribunal Correctional or misdemeanor court dominates the courtroom at the Palais de Justice in Fontainebleau, France.
The painting, full of drama, has the likes of Catherine de Medici, her son dressed as a young monarch, a constable, a prelate motioning to a body of serious-l ooking clerical types and the intriguing date of 1560 21-26 août (Aug. 21-26 1560) at the bottom.
Six brass chandeliers illuminate the room and there’s a bust of Greek god looking down at the proceedings.
Against this backdrop on Monday, Feb. 2, came Alysson Menet, small, nervous and looking miserable, but nevertheless showing up for her court date, a male supporter sitting in the gallery for support.
Her case was serious enough, but the docket posted outside the courtroom didn’t appear to assign a felony number to the three charges against her.
She was accused of trafficking in stupéfiants, in this case four kilos of cannabis (marijuana) found in her apartment. Marijuana is still illegal in France although it’s probably as common as a good red wine.
Detectives found a large quantity of tabac or tobacco in the apartment so as to be contraband.
However, the worst and what the judge found “outrancier” was the fate of her two year old child who happened to pick up a small packet of cannabis and ingest it. The incident took place in September, according to the docket.
The child spent four days in the ICU, but survived, according to a reporter from La République de Seine-et-Marne, a weekly newspaper published in the area where I lived for six years.
Jean-François Caltot, the reporter, explained much of the details in the case as we stood just outside the courtroom and gossiped.
[La Republique was a great little paper and apparently still is. Lots of pages and lots of news in Fontainebleau and the surrounding villages. I always looked forward to the paper’s court coverage and marveled at the freedom they were allowed in their write-ups. The journalists had a wry and speculative humor, even though the facts were sound.
Caltot, a semi-retired publisher, now covers the chronicles judiciares in Fontainebleau, Paris and Melun.
In Paris, the most serious cases are judged; Melun, seat of the department known as Seine et Marne, has some fairly important cases; and then in Fontainebleau, you have the petits and grands délits (misdemeanors) and family matters. I was really surprised to learn I would have been allowed to sit in on cases of parental and custodial rights, something that isn’t allowed in Allen County.]
Caltot was the one who spelled out the details of the case against Alysson, who spoke in a soft and forlorn voice. He found the situation incomprehensible.
Her attorney, bright and kind to her, explained procedures to Alysson outside the courtroom as they awaited the sentence which would be a consensus among three judges, all of whom sat in on the short trial and asked questions, if they so wished.
The young prosecutor was stern and spoke at length about the irresponsibility of Ms. Menet and the danger to which she exposed the child. Menet’s attorney was equally talkative even though one of the judges, not the main one, smirked a bit and looked over to the prosecutor. The young prosecutor looked down at her laptop and didn’t react to the eyerolls.
In Menet’s case, the judge read aloud the facts of the case just as you would hear in the misdemeanor court in Allen County. Menet stood in front of him at a mic’ed lectern.
She was allowed to explain her actions. It had to be embarrassing as there was a class of young teens there with their profs listening to every word.
At one point, Menet indicated that she was in “extreme fear,” probably the victim of a bigger fish who let Menet take the rap. Still, she put her child in danger and Caltot guessed she was in a constant state of being stoned.
Menet, 27, received a year sentence with eight months suspended and four months on an ankle bracelet. The biggest surprise to Caltot was that she was allowed to keep her child, but just as it happens in Allen Superior Court, Menet received a warning. If this happens again, there’s always prison.