Euthanasia: Nursing Assistant Receives 25-Year Prison Term

On May 24^th, the Criminal Court in the region of Savoie (French Alps) rendered its verdict for Ludivine Chambet, whose trial was held from 9^th to 23^rd May in Chambery.   
Ludivine Chambet, who is accused of having poisoned 13 elderly patients, has been sentenced to 25 years of prison. The sentence also specifies 10 years of socio-judicial follow-up, and upon release from prison she will be banned from practicing her former profession.
The nursing assistant remained completely unemotional and stoic when the verdict was announced, probably due to the high doses of medicine that she has been taking for several years. After the trial, the ex-nursing assistant kept repeating that she only intended to “calm” the individuals at the nursing home, by having them drink poisonous medical “cocktails”, that the patients had not even requested.
On May 23rd, in his final closing argument, the General Counsel requested 30 years of prison, describing Ludivine Chambet “as a killer who acted with premeditation”. The court and the 6 jurors ruled that Ludivine Chambet “had impaired judgment” at the time the acts were committed, especially due to her “complete breakdown” following her mother’s death in June 2013. The psychiatrists described the mother-daughter relationship as pathological.
One of her lawyers declared: « A 25-year sentence is a sentence which leaves room for compassion and understanding for the unique circumstances in which these acts were committed”.