The Presnensky Court of Moscow extended until January 22, 2021, house arrest for actor Mikhail Efremov in the framework of the case of an accident with one dead.
"The Presnensky District Court of Moscow extended the term of detention under house arrest in relation to Mikhail Efremov for six months from the date of the receipt of the criminal case by the court," RIA Novosti quoted the press secretary of the court Lela Kokai as saying.
The lawyer of the family of Sergei Zakharov, who died in an accident, Alexander Dobrovinsky, told TASS that the injured party considers such a decision adequate.
Lela Kokaya also said that the consideration of the criminal case on the merits will begin on August 5 at 10 am. During the first session, the prosecutor will voice the accusation in court, after which Mikhail Efremov will express his attitude towards him.
On July 30, a preliminary hearing in the artist's case took place in the Presnensky Court. It was supposed to take place the day before, on July 29, but was postponed due to the absence of Efremov's lawyers. He arrived at the courthouse in a passenger car of the Federal Penitentiary Service, whose employees monitor compliance with the restrictions imposed on him.
Meanwhile, the actor's lawyer Elman Pashayev commented on his client's refusal to confess.
“Efremov has the right to admit his guilt and refuse it a thousand times a day. This is his procedural right, "- said the lawyer on the air of the TV channel" Russia 1 ".
Pashayev added that he first obtained evidence of Efremov's innocence, after which he had already announced it.
In addition, the defender expressed doubt that the actor was driving at the time of the accident.
“Efremov was definitely in the car at the time of the accident, but we still don't know if he was driving,” the lawyer told reporters.
In addition, Pashayev said that the defense had asked to provide Efremov with “at least an hour of walks,” but the court refused.
“Even in prison, the accused are allowed to walk, and Efremov has been locked up all this time,” the lawyer said.
Finally, Pashayev said that his client sometimes drinks, but does not suffer from alcoholism.
“As a lawyer, I sometimes use it myself. Do you think he is abusing? Did you pour him yourself? ”Pashayev said.
In turn, lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky noted that the court will consider the case in a month or a month and a half. He specified that there are "only 5 volumes and 7 hours of video recordings."
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On the eve, Dobrovinsky announced his intention to find witnesses who were the first to be at the scene of the accident and helped the actor get out of the car. The lawyer presented on the air of the program "60 minutes" on the TV channel "Russia-1" footage showing a man and a woman who were the first at the scene of an accident with Efremov.
“I have provided you with this footage, and I am looking for these people. These people can be key witnesses to whether Mr. Efremov was alone in the car or not, ”he confirmed.
Also on the air, he showed a document in which, according to the lawyer, Efremov admits his guilt. He said that at the bottom of the document "Mr. Efremov wrote:" It's his own fault, alas. "
The inscription, made, according to the defender, by the hand of Efremov, is made under the item "Information relevant to the case of an administrative offense."
“This is the signature of Mr. Efremov, this is the 73rd page, in my opinion, of the first volume,” Dobrovinsky said.
On July 29, Efremov refused to plead guilty in the case of a fatal road accident. Dobrovinsky said that he first pleaded guilty, then refused, and this is in the case file.
Pashayev later told RT that the actor's side never admitted guilt.
Efremov got into an accident on June 8 on Smolenskaya Square, driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The car drove into the oncoming lane and collided with a Lada van driven by a 57-year-old employee of the Delikateska.ru company Sergey Zakharov. A man with multiple injuries was hospitalized at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute, where he died a few hours later. Efremov himself was not injured.
Later, the prosecutor's office reported that Efremov was in a state of alcoholic and drug intoxication. A number of media outlets said that before the accident, he was in one of the Moscow pubs.
After the incident, two criminal cases were opened - "Violation of the rules of the road and the operation of vehicles, resulting in the death of a person through negligence and committed by a person in a state of intoxication", as well as "Illegal production, sale or transfer of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues ".
On June 13, the actor recorded a video message in which he asked for forgiveness from the Zakharov family, declared his readiness to help them, calling this proposal an attempt to atone for his guilt. The relatives of the deceased refused to help, and said they did not accept the artist's apology.