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Jurgita Jankauskienė received the biggest punishment drivers could conceive exactly 61 months ago. A woman traveling by car with her family was involved in an unfortunate accident that killed her 10-year-old daughter.
All the months that followed the tragedy became an additional test for J. Jankauskienė and his family, as they have to defend themselves against a strict accusation from the prosecution: the driver herself made a critical mistake, for which she is also responsible for the death of the child.
On Tuesday evening a verdict was announced in the Varėna Palace of the Alytus District Court: J. Jankauskienė was completely acquitted if the charges against her were not confirmed. The woman received the verdict with moderation, while her husband did not hide tears of joy in the courtroom.
Understand instantly
- The traffic accident that drastically changed the fate of the Jankauskas family occurred during All Saints’ Day 2014. The police recorded the incident in the summary as follows: On November 1, at approximately 12:40, Varėna district , Valkininkai sen., On the first kilometer of the Naujieji Valkininkai – Daugai – Alytus highway, JV, born in 1980, resident of the Vilnius district, driving a car. Audi Q7 ”, did not miss the Toyota Avensis, which drove in the same direction and turned left and was driven by J. Jankauskienė from Vilnius, b. 1977 A decade-old Toyota passenger died in an accident.
- The powerful and luxurious Audi (155 kW) was driven by a wealthy businessman from the capital county, whose father is called an influential person with important connections in Alytus, who recently held a high-level position in a large company.
- Arūnas Puodys, the former head of the Varėna Police Department, testified in court that the 10-year-old daughter, who lost her mother in an accident, was charged with crimes. Following this sensational testimony, the Immunity Service had launched an urgent investigation, but during it the investigators were unable to find evidence of the circumstances alleged by A. Puodis.
- The Audi driver attended the girl’s funeral and personally expressed her condolences to her parents. He did not contribute financially to the funeral. Without becoming a defendant, the employer did not become a victim in this accident case, so he does not ask the defendant for anything. However, his vehicle’s insurance company filed a claim with Jankauskas for damages for the crashed Audi SUV before the court ended.
- The situation in court is legally correct, but humanly paradoxical. The prosecution that supports the state accusation against J. Jankauskienė also defends the interests of V. Jankauskas as a victim. At that moment, V. Jankauskas, formally seated with the prosecutor in a boat, paddles in the opposite direction: he protects his wife from the accusations.
- There have been many forensic examinations in the case, including complex ones, but there is still no clarity and unified vision from the specialists on this traffic accident.
The judge noted that there have been up to 5 examinations in the case, but the conclusions of all of them are different. The reason is clear: they were all made on the basis of a first examination, although that initial baseline assessment, as it turned out, was wrong.
The court’s acquittal was based on the last one, in 2020. According to an expert examination carried out in April, the speed of another Audi car on a busy country road was not safe: 99 km / h.
According to the court, it was the driver of the van who was not careful, worried enough and thought about how to ensure road safety. Unlike many years in prison, a woman whose behavior behind the wheel of a Toyota was not considered a criminal offense by a court, on the contrary, was driven with prudence and good sense.
The court noted that the speed of another Audi car, not that of the defendant, was dangerous on a heavily trafficked country road: 99 km / h.
The verdict establishes that the defendant did not admit his guilt from the beginning and constantly maintained the position that he was driving safely. His testimony was later corroborated by the victim’s husband, neutral witnesses, and other details of the case, which the court sees no reason to believe or disobey.
Today, the acquittal of Judge Loreta Janiulytė has not yet entered into force, it can be appealed to the Kaunas Regional Court within 20 days. The prosecutor in the case mentioned that he would consider this possibility.
In October, at closing speeches in court, the voice of the prosecutor in charge of the case did not tremble: a 10-year-old person killed in an accident was offered a sentence by a mourning mother. It is true that the representative of the institution supporting the state accusation demonstrated a truly sensitive approach, publicly declaring that there would be no greater punishment than the act itself and its consequences for the grieving mother.
The prosecution’s proposal to the court was as follows: Toyota drivers who lost their daughter in an accident were sentenced to two years in prison, with a suspended sentence.
Also in October, the 15MAX section wrote about perhaps not all the possibilities of the investigation used in this case: Fantasy or a unique opportunity in the case of a death of 10 years: Audi still remembers its speed in 2014. In an accident ? It’s a technical hesitation that has so far been fueled by attorneys for the family of the boy who died in the accident, one of whom keeps repeating: data from six years ago on the fateful speed of the Audi Q7 SUV may have survived to this day. from today.
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