WhatsApp messages from 2019 suggest that Jacques and Jessica Moretti knew sparklers could set their bar alight, raising questions about whether they should face more serious criminal charges, reported RTS.
Jacques and Jessica Moretti, the owners of Le Constellation, a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, warned staff about the risk of fire from sparklers as early as 2019. Internal WhatsApp messages, obtained by RTS, have become part of a criminal investigation and prompted lawyers for victims’ families to call for more serious charges against the couple.
In a message sent to employees on November 12th 2019, Mr Moretti reprimanded a member of staff for giving a sparkler to a customer. “Do not give sparklers to guests,” he wrote. “The guest left it unattended on the table! If it falls on the floor or the sofas, the Constellation will catch fire.”
A month later his wife, Jessica, issued a similar warning. Customers could have sparklers, she told staff, but only under close supervision. Employees were to remain with them until the sparklers had gone out. She warned that a sparkler falling onto a sofa or the floor—or being held close to the foam on the ceiling—could cause the bar to burn down.
Lawyers representing several victims’ families argue that the messages show the Morettis knew of the danger and knowingly accepted the risk. They want prosecutors to pursue charges of intentional homicide on the basis of dolus eventualis, or conditional intent, rather than negligent homicide.
Under this legal principle, a person may be found to have acted intentionally if they recognised that their conduct could cause a death and accepted that outcome, even if it was not their aim.
The defence disputes the interpretation
The Morettis’ lawyers reject that argument. Yaël Hayat, Nicola Meier and Patrick Michod told RTS that the messages demonstrated the opposite: their clients had identified the risks and instructed employees on how to prevent a fire. The defence also noted that it had voluntarily submitted the messages to prosecutors.
The lawyers said the Morettis had been wrongly accused of failing to give staff instructions. The messages, they argued, showed that the couple had considered risks common to the hospitality industry, including fire and damage to property.
They also dismissed the suggestion that the exchanges provided evidence of conditional intent. Such a charge, they argued, would require proof that the Morettis had recognised the risk of death and accepted that it might occur. Warning employees about a fire hazard did not establish that state of mind.
The distinction could have serious consequences. The Morettis currently face charges carrying prison sentences of less than five years. If prosecutors were to establish intentional homicide with conditional intent, the maximum sentence could rise to 20 years.
The question is whether the warnings amount to evidence of responsible management—or show that the bar’s owners understood a potentially deadly danger but failed to prevent it.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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