French stoner throws Jewish lady off balcony, won’t be charged

Newsweek

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A court ruled that a man suspected of killing a woman in an act of antisemitism will not be put on trial after it was revealed that he allegedly smoked marijuana prior to the murder. The Court of Cassation in France decreed on Wednesday that Kobili Traoré, who is accused of pushing his elderly Jewish neighbor Sarah Halimi off of her apartment balcony in 2017, would not be charged. According to a report from Jewish News, the ruling was consistent with the decisions of other lower courts. The outlet reported that the decision was made upon evidence that Traoré "was too high on marijuana to be criminally responsible for his actions." The appeals court sided with the defense's claims that as a heavy marijuana smoker, Traoré was not in his right frame of mind when he allegedly killed Halimi.

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According to a report from Le Dauphiné, Traoré broke into the Orthodox Jewish woman's home, assaulted her and pushed her out of her third-story window. He allegedly shouted in Arabic "Allahu Akbar," which translates to "God is great." The 27-year-old Muslim then yelled for help before police detained him. The prosecution argued that the death was rooted in antisemitism. While the courts agreed that there was a level of bias present for the crime to have occurred, they believed that due to his frequent consumption of marijuana he acted in the midst of a "delusional puff," Le Dauphiné said. France has been under higher scrutiny for interactions with its minority citizens as of late. Many have criticized the nation's 2020 hijab ban and called it Islamophobia.

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I understand this is France, but we too are decriminalizing drugs as well. Will we also not hold druggies responsible for crimes in the U.S. when this type behavior invariably occurs?