a drunk driver in a Ford ran over her friend lying on the ground, reported a strange stranger at the scene of the accident and asked her to be acquitted – TSN 24

In April 2024, the Tula Regional Court considered an appeal in a criminal case against Kimovsk resident Elena N. The woman was accused of fatally hitting a person while intoxicated. The deceased is a friend of the accused, who was lying on the ground at the time of the accident.

“A few sips”

An accident in the village of Krasnopolye, Kimovsky district, occurred on June 26, 2023. The State Traffic Inspectorate reported that the 49-year-old driver of a Ford Maverick “while reversing out of the adjacent territory, hit a pedestrian – a woman born in 1992.” According to preliminary information, traffic police reported, the pedestrian “was on the roadway without reflective elements in the dark.”

31 year old girl died on the spot. The Ford driver was drunk. The presence of alcohol was confirmed by the examination – 0.573 mg/l.

Later, the judicial authorities clarified that the driver was reversing on a section of dirt road, and the pedestrian… lay on the ground.

According to the case materials, the defendant denied her guilt and claimed that she “could not have caused the victim a large amount of bodily harm.”

“I didn’t drink alcohol, except for a few sips from a plastic bottle, mistaking the contents for water. She did not consider herself involved in the death of the victim,” the testimony of the accused was retold on the website of the Regional Court.

The lawyer cited the testimony of one of the witnesses, which, he believes, exonerates the defendant, who did not drink alcohol and had the opportunity to see the victim on the ground, which, he emphasized, is not a dirt road or any other road. One of the witnesses explained that the girl’s body lay in the place of two paths along which construction materials were brought to her house. Elena N. also drove up to the house along these paths that day.

The defense lawyer also drew attention to the witness’s testimony about the victim’s “cold body temperature” and the expert’s conclusion that death could have occurred within a few tens of minutes from 11:22 p.m.

The report of the inspection of the car, the lawyer explained, does not indicate any damage, and the report of the scene of the incident does not indicate traces of tires, dragging, blood, scraps of clothing or any signs of the car moving at all. According to the defense lawyer, there is no evidence of contact between Elena N.’s car and the victim’s body! In addition, screenshots from the accused’s phone were presented at the trial, which confirm the fact that the woman was undergoing permanent makeup procedures on June 25 and 26, which means couldn’t drink alcohol.

The defense also explained that there were no direct eyewitnesses to the crime in the case and did not rule out that someone else might be involved in the girl’s death. “Car tires,” according to the lawyer, it was impossible to cause 21 injuries to the deceased from head to shins. And in general, according to the traffic rules, the girl lying on the ground cannot be called a pedestrian!

Elena N. herself explained that her friend “was very intoxicated.” She left towards the house at about 10 p.m. About an hour and a half later, the driver got behind the wheel and “began to drive at low speed in reverse in poor visibility conditions.” During the court hearing, a version was even put forward that the attack on the victim was secondary, since “the body was cold,” and the girl had dried blood on her face. The accused allegedly saw it on the spot and unknown man, who after the accident was interested in the condition of the victim! His identity was never established. Witnesses did not see this man.

The court rejected the defense position that Elena N. was not guilty, recognizing it as unreliable, distorted and misleading the court in order to avoid punishment.

The witness, who stated that the girl’s body was cold, was with the driver of the car. According to him, after about 30 meters of reversing, he felt a jolt. The driver reported “running into something.” When the driver and passenger got out of the car, they saw the body of a girl with “black dried blood” on her face. According to the witness, he saw Elena N. drinking alcohol in his presence. The man also stated that he had the plastic bottle of alcohol that the driver was talking about.

The doctor who confirmed the girl’s death stated during the investigation that he noticed on the chest of the deceased there is a mark similar to the tread of a car tire.

Verdict, appeal, examination

Elena N. was found guilty and sentenced to six years in a colony-settlement with deprivation of rights for three years. Also, the court decided that the convicted woman should be charged 221,450 in material damage, 1,000,000 rubles in moral damage, as well as 30,000 rubles in compensation for legal services.

The defense and the convict herself did not agree with the verdict. The appeal was considered by the Tula Regional Court. The lawyer demanded that his client be acquitted. The prosecution did not agree with the court’s decision either! According to the prosecutor, the sentence should be mitigated, as well as the amount of damages reduced.

The victim and her lawyer asked for the sentence to remain unchanged.

According to the conclusion of the forensic medical examination, the girl’s death was caused by numerous fractures of the ribs, thoracic vertebrae, lung damage and a number of other injuries. The expert concluded that “the possibility of causing damage as a result moving a horizontally injured person with a car wheel” No post-mortem injuries were found.

“The victim could not be in a “standing” state, all the damage was caused at once, which includes the possibility of driving with the rear and front wheels, due to the small (second) interval in the time of infliction.

…

The second possible method of causing damage by twenty-one blows from hard objects, indicated by experts, as not having taken place, [суд] reasonably rejected, citing convincing reasons,” the case file says.

As follows from the examinations, the compressive surfaces were the earth on one side and a smaller traumatic object on the other. It is the difference in size in the compressive surfaces, the court found, that determines the amount of damage on the girl’s body.

“The fact that an expert, with reference to injuries, states that the body is horizontally positioned face down, and other evidence contains information about the body positioned face up, is not an unresolved contradiction for which the verdict should be overturned, the defendant should be acquitted, or additional expert examinations should be ordered “, the court decided.

The expert also clarified that hitting a body with the front and rear wheels goes into the concept of simultaneity in connection with a second period of time. It is also explained that the fact of possible secondary damage has not been established, that is, someone else could not have run over the girl before Elena N.’s collision.

The court explained that Elena N. was obliged to make sure that the maneuver was safe when reversing or resort to the help of another person – a passenger.

The court also refuted the driver’s argument about accidental use of the car. According to the testimony of a narcologist, the figure of approximately 0.6 ml/g of alcohol, which was shown by the breathalyzer, is the result of drinking from 100 to 200 grams of vodka.

The court changed the verdict of the Kimovsky District Court. The issue of compensation for legal services in the amount of 30,000 rubles will be considered separately. The cost of commemoration on the 40th day was excluded from the amount of damages. This is 36,000 rubles. Elena N.’s sentence was reduced to five and a half years in prison.

The decision can be appealed to the Court of Cassation.