The Crucial Role of Eleanor Laws to Get Mendy Acquitted : After two weeks of trial, Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty of all the charges against him. Last August, no one could imagine this end, given the accumulation of accusations against the Frenchman.
Before the English justice , Mendy explained himself with the support of his lawyer, Eleanor Laws. The latter played a major role in this decision of the jury by the Chester court.
In his shadow , when Benjamin Mendy walks through the back door of Chester court on Friday afternoon, Eleanor Laws was right behind him. In a her black suit, small shoulder bag and a with white basket, the main asset of the former Manchester City player did not speak after the verdict.
It is Jenny Wiltshire, another representative of the defender, who read a simple press release. A very short message to put an end to all media solicitations.
At her side, Benjamin Mendy, in an orange raincoat , suit with white shirt and red tie, does not move. The player just drop a simple message :
‘Al Hamdulillah’, meaning “Thanks to Allah” to thank God after this verdict and a two-year long legal episode. Benjamin Mendy will now “rebuild” but this “trial has inevitably had a serious impact on him”, commented his representatives.
The crucial role of his main lawyer , Eleanor Laws KC
People close to Mendy clan have described as a “strategist”. The task was not easy, this lawyer dissected everything , she conducted the cross-examinations in such a way as to put the complainants in difficulty.
“She already had a reputation for being tough in this style of trial, with this media coverage, she scores even more points”, confided by a lawyer at the London bar after the verdict on Friday.
Always on the offensive, Eleanor Laws often bombarded young women with questions, as with one of the complainants at the end of August.
The “barrister” addresses all the subjects. For example, with the young woman who accused Benjamin Mendy of sexual assault, Laws suggested to the alleged victim that her client had “grazed her leg” rather than “touching her vagina”, which the complainant denied outright.
The angle of attack is studied at length. She can question a complainant for several hours on a WhatsApp group before bouncing on another subject.
A WhatsApp group at the heart of the first trial
This group on the instant messaging service, nicknamed “Sunday Schlagggs”, where according to the defense lawyer, two complainants exchanged regularly. Laws goes on to question whether the complainant is “not trying to downplay” her relationship with another alleged victim.
Another strong moment, during a cross-examination, with the testimony of this 22-year-old woman who accused Mendy of three rapes in the same evening. Eleanor Laws returned to the young woman’s complaint, three weeks after the alleged facts.
“By then, in early November (2020), you had persuaded yourself that you were truly a victim […] You persuaded yourself that Mr. Mendy had done something wrong instead of something that was fully consensual”, launches Eleanor Laws.
The complainant replies: “I am absolutely certain of what happened. I did not give my consent at any time. I did not need to persuade myself.”
A counter-expertise specialist
Thursday, during her last argument, the “barrister” once again pointed to a “myriad of lies and inconsistencies” in the stories of the two young women before adding to the jurors:
“There is no independent evidence to support what either of these two plaintiffs are saying, period.” A message that will be heard by the jurors a few hours later during the deliberation, much faster than at the first trial.
Eleanor Laws, Mendy’s main barrister, has become known throughout her career for her mastery of second opinion, notably handling murder and sexual assault cases.
In this case, she countered the prosecution for weeks, very offensive during the first trial with the former AS Monaco player. With this favorable verdict for her client, the English lawyer therefore adds a new line to her already well-stocked CV.
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