The Bialystok Court of Appeal made a decision which could be a key phrase in a loud accident involving erstwhile Prime Minister Vladimir Cimoszewicz. The request to get supplementing the expert opinion, which opens a fresh chapter in a process that has been generating large excitement and public interest for over 5 years. This unexpected decision of the court for many means that the final decision can be postponed, and the full case will be again under the scrutiny of experts.
Judicial Breakthrough: Why the fresh Expert Opinion?
The main decision of the appeal court concerns the acceptance of evidence from the supplementary expert opinion of the Institute of Judicial Experts in Krakow. The request for it was filed by the territory Attorney's Office in Białystok, which brought an acquittal in its entirety. Prosecutor Andrzej Stelmasuk argued that the opinion so far is insufficient and needs clarification. The experts now have a period to prepare an additional analysis to address the key issues. The answers are to include a precise determination of the stopping position of the vehicle at a velocity of 30 km/h and an indication of the percent probability that the driver was not able to avoid a deduction, assuming the driving according to regulations.
2019 accident: Controversy and Prosecution of the Prosecutor's Office
The case concerns a road accident which has occurred May 4, 2019 in Hajnówka. Vladimir Cimoszewicz, then MEP, was accused of inadvertently violating safety rules in road traffic. According to the D.A.'s office, a 70-year-old cyclist suffered serious injuries, including a fracture of the lower leg bones, was hit on the marked pedestrian passage. The prosecution accused Cimoszewicz that he did not take peculiar care, started braking besides late and yet led to the event. Additionally, investigators qualified to leave the scene as an escape.
Vladimir Cimoszewicz consistently He didn't plead guilty.. He claimed that he was moving at the velocity allowed, and the cyclist unexpectedly entered the passage. He besides assured that he did not flee the scene of the accident, but drove the victim home as requested, from where she went to the hospital.
Doubts of the Court of First Instance and the Appeal of the Prosecutor’s Office
In the course of the proceedings, the court in Hajnówka found that lack of adequate evidence confirming the defendant's guilt. Doubts could not be dispelled by another evidence, and the issue of leaving the scene of the accident was classified as an offence and released due to statute of limitations. With specified a ruling, the territory Attorney's Office in Białystok, who challenged the judgement in its entirety, demanded its annulment and return the case to be re-examined at first instance, did not agree.
Defenders of Vladimir Cimoszewicz, including Counselor Błażej Biedulski, demanded that the prosecution's motion be dismissed. They stressed that, at the phase of the first instance proceedings, the prosecution did not object to the expert opinion. They besides pointed out that it was not possible to find the first velocity of the vehicle or the exact braking method, and the experts had already pointed to these deficiencies. According to the defense, allowing another opinion will not change the situation, as no fresh evidence or evidence has emerged that would let full reconstruction of the event.
Cimoshevich's reaction and what next with the Process?
The decision of the court was accepted with surprise by Vladimir Cimoszewicz. The erstwhile Prime Minister stressed that the facts had not changed and that the experts had no fresh data to influence their conclusions. He suggested that the court would proceed with procedural caution not to exposure itself to charges of disregarding the prosecution's motions. It will take at least a period for the case to be settled – so many experts have time to prepare a supplementary opinion.
The content of this opinion may depend on the further destiny of the trial and the possible re-examination by the court of first instance. The prosecution demands the suspect six months in prison suspended for 2 years, a three-year ban on driving vehicles, 10 1000 zlotys for social purposes and 10 1000 gold compensation for the victim. The case of Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz remains 1 of the most watched court trials in Poland, and the latest decision of the court raises the rate and announces further months of uncertainty.
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The court decided on the Cimoszewicz case. The fresh opinion of experts may alter the destiny of the judgment.
