“He felt that this decision was consistent with the position he had always taken in court, which was that Ms. Pellico was not and never had been his adversary,” Ms. Zavara said, adding that Dominic Pellico wanted to be “done” with the case. .
He will have to appear in court as a witness during appeals.
Although Ms. Pellicot is not required to attend the trial, her lawyer, Stéphane Baboneau, told French media that she “will face those who filed the appeal. She is not afraid of that, although she obviously would like it to end here “.
Under French law, a new trial must take place within the next 12 months. However, unlike the first trial, it will be tried by three judges and a jury of nine members of the public.
While this would not necessarily lead to harsher sentences, the trial’s enormous publicity and media coverage could mean that juries would be less lenient than judges.
Although they will be vetted carefully, “jurors are human beings like you and me and may well be biased,” lawyer Hansu Jalaz told the BBC.
Among the men who appealed was Charlie Arbaugh, 30, who was jailed for 13 years for six separate rapes of Ms Pellicott when he was in his early 20s.
Construction worker Simone Mekeneze, 43, and nurse Redouane El Farihi, 55, who were sentenced to nine and eight years respectively, have also appealed.
Many of the men claimed that Pellicott “manipulated” them into raping his wife, and that they did not know that she had not given her consent.
“From the beginning, my client has said that … he never intended to rape Giselle Pellicot,” Mackenzie’s lawyer Yannick Pratt said, adding that the nine-year prison sentence was “disproportionate.”
He admitted the prospect of facing a popular jury could lead to a more serious sentence, but said he would be “absolutely happy” to work with a jury.
