The Second General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation refused to mitigate the sentence to Mikhail Efremov, who is serving time for a fatal road accident, of which he became the culprit in 2020.

The actor's defense insisted that the punishment must be mitigated due to the presence of health problems that were not previously taken into account by the court.

In particular, the lawyers pointed to the aggravation of asthma, which began in Efremov in the colony, as well as to the organic personality disorder revealed in the actor, provoked by alcohol dependence and the diseases caused by it.

In addition, the defense drew the court's attention that the actor compensated the damage to the family of the driver who died in an accident with his participation, and repented of the crime. 

In the cassation appeal against the verdict, the lawyers also mentioned the fact that Efremov is the owner of many awards, gratitude, was engaged in charity work, and the employees of IK-4 in the Belgorod region, where the artist is serving his sentence, characterize him positively.

"I pray for peace"

Mikhail Efremov participated in the online meeting - in his speech in court, the actor emphasized that he fully realized his guilt for what he had done.

He complained that every night "one way or another he sees an accident" in which a person died through his fault.

“The image of Sergei Zakharov never leaves me for a minute, I pray for the repose of his soul,” the artist assured.

He explained his addiction to alcohol by the fact that his mother died in 2020, and he also “lost his theatrical mother” - the artistic director of the Sovremennik theater Galina Volchek.

According to Efremov, because of this, his life "cracked", and he began to drink a lot.

In addition, the artist criticized his former lawyer Elman Pashayev, who represented him in the court of first instance and was subsequently deprived of his lawyer status due to unprofessional work and an attempt to scandalize the process in the Efremov case.

“Like the devil out of a snuffbox, lawyer Elman Pashayev appeared, achieved house arrest, a kind of lawyer's show began,” the actor said.

“I still cannot forgive myself for not stopping my defender from making aggressive and harsh statements towards the victims.”

Nevertheless, the court refused to accept the arguments of Efremov and his lawyers.

During the meeting, the prosecutor asked to leave the verdict unchanged, noting that the actor "can no longer benefit society in principle due to the deterioration of his health."

"The game of three thimbles"

Lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky, who represented the interests of the family of Sergei Zakharov, a victim of an accident involving Efremov, supported the decision of the cassation court.

In an interview with RT, the lawyer called the behavior of the actor and his representatives at the last meeting "a poorly staged game with justice."

“An attempt to squeeze out a tear with stories about poor health, that Mr. Efremov prays for Sergei Zakharov every day, a confession that I tried to reason with Mikhail Efremov during the trial (I said that you shouldn't throw mud at the victims), but Pashayev did not let him hear my words, - this whole game of three thimbles was revealed, and therefore the court left the decision on the term in the same form, ”the lawyer said.

According to Dobrovinsky, the actor was unlucky with his lawyers: "The only one who tried to negotiate peacefully and who even turned to the victims and to me was lawyer Alyoshkin, who was immediately eliminated by Efremov's lawyers."

Recall that in September 2020, the Presnensky Court of Moscow found Mikhail Efremov guilty of an accident that resulted in the death of a person.

In June 2020, the actor, while intoxicated, crossed a double continuous line in a jeep on the Garden Ring and rammed a Lada car driving in the oncoming lane.

The driver of the car, 57-year-old Sergei Zakharov, died in hospital from his injuries.

Efremov was sentenced to eight years in prison, subsequently the Moscow City Court reduced the sentence to seven and a half years.

During the trial, the artist's lawyer Elman Pashayev repeatedly made scandalous statements, claiming that it was not Efremov who was driving the jeep, and even expressed the opinion that hackers could intercept the control of the artist's car.