Overview

• The postponement followed the reading of a jurors' questionnaire that erroneously stated a life sentence, leading defense lawyers and some civil parties to argue doubt over president Xavier Lenoir's neutrality.
• Lenoir acknowledged a procedural error he called a dysfunction and said the text resulted from a copy-and-replace from a previous case.
• The assize court will schedule new dates for the trial, and the defendant will remain in provisional detention until proceedings resume.
• Civil-party lawyer Yassine Bouzrou said the delay was sought to prevent procedural flaws from enabling a request for release.
• The case concerns the July 2022 Angers stabbings that killed three young men and injured others, with the accused also charged over two sexual assaults that night.