Compensation without compensation and rudeness: the trial of Efremov turned into a tragicomedy

The next hearing in the case of Mikhail Efremov in the Presnensky court turned out to be the most emotional since the beginning of the process - the relatives of the driver Mikhail Zakharov, who died in an accident involving the actor, spoke at it for the first time. Lawyers for his family filed claims for compensation for moral damages against Efremov. One of them turned out to be unexpectedly small - only “one symbolic ruble.” Writes about this with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

The relatives of the deceased Sergei Zakharov - his wife Margarita, brother Valery and sons Vitaly and Valery - came to the last hearing of the Presnensky court on Tuesday, August 18, for the first time. They came to Moscow last week, but then the process never began - Efremov became ill, he was taken to the hospital with a suspected stroke, which was not confirmed.

The appearance of the Zakharov family at the trial is connected, among other things, with the filing of civil claims for compensation for moral damage to Efremov. The lawyers were able to announce the claims of the victims after the prosecutors officially announced that they had finished submitting evidence.

In particular, Vitaly Zakharov, Zakharov's son from his first marriage, asked for compensation of 6,5 million rubles ($ 88). Another lawsuit was filed by lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky, who represents the interests of Zakharov's wife, brother and son.

The lawyer told Judge Elena Abramova that he had prepared two versions of the statement and before announcing the demand, he asked Efremov two questions. “Do you remember the events of the evening of June 8?” - he asked Efremov. “No,” the actor replied. “Has everything your lawyers say been agreed upon with you?” - continued Dobrovinsky. “Yes,” the defendant nodded.

After this, the victims’ lawyer read out a claim for compensation for moral damage for “a symbolic one ruble.”

“Compensation for harm is just a legal formulation. Who can compensate us for our husband, father and brother? Is there money that can resurrect Sergei? - the lawsuit said.

Dobrovinsky also read out quotes from lawyer Elman Pashayev made in the media about Zakharov’s family - Efremov’s lawyer, in particular, accused the driver’s relatives of “wanting to make money” and said that, in his impression, they had long dreamed of his death.

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The statement from Zakharov’s family also says that Efremov will not receive forgiveness from them, and they see their mission as “protecting little people from the lawlessness of celebrities”: “We are simple provincial residents of Ryazan and, perhaps, the country rests on people like us... dirty We don’t need Efremov’s blood money and will never need it.”

“As much as they set it up, that’s what they said,” Pashayev commented after the meeting.

Zakharov's relatives themselves gave evidence to the court. They told Abramova that they had a close-knit family, whose life changed dramatically after the death of the head of the family. “This is unbearable pain, this is the bitterness of loss, this is trauma when you lose your husband, your loved one with whom you have lived in a happy marriage for 27 years. “Tears are choking, my heart is breaking,” Margarita Zakharova said from the podium. “Should I give you some water?” — Pashayev reacted sarcastically.

“Seryoga was good-natured, harmless and a little spineless. It was hard for him to make decisions,” said Zakharov’s brother. “The biggest thing he wanted was for everyone to be together.” He didn’t like conflicts and tried to avoid them.” The youngest son Valery, talking about his father, burst into tears.

At the meeting, Efremov’s lawyers expressed doubt that Zakharov’s family was strong, and that his relatives were really experiencing his death. They recalled that the deceased driver worked in Moscow, and his wife and son lived in Ryazan. In addition, presumably, Zakharov lived for many years with another woman, Irina, who after the accident called herself his common-law wife. She was not recognized as a victim. Zakharov's wife said in court that she had not heard of her.

Margarita Zakharova eventually called Efremov a “murderer” and asked for a fair punishment for him. His son Valery asked for Efremov “the maximum possible punishment that the law provides.”

The victims at the meeting said that for two months after the accident, they had not received an apology from Efremov, nor proposals for compensation. Pashayev tried to challenge this and even asked the court to hear an audio recording of his conversation with Zakharov's son, but Judge Abramova refused to do so.

During the entire session, Efremov himself almost never raised his eyes from a small pocket book, which he brought into the courtroom. It was assumed that on Tuesday the Presnensky court could begin the interrogation of the actor, but at the request of his defense and to the displeasure of the victims, it was postponed until August 19.

At some point, Efremov got up from his seat and began to quietly explain to the judge that his defense plans to interrogate his wife in court, who must be warned in advance about the hearing - the actor has three children, whom, according to him, there is no one to leave with. Then the defendant suddenly turned to the victims, saying that he felt sympathy for them because of the quality of their defense lawyers.

“Speak louder, I can’t hear you at all,” one of the lawyers of Zakharov’s relatives asked.

“If you can’t hear, buy a hearing aid,” Efremov snapped.

“Oh, you’ll also be rude,” the lawyer replied.

In the hall, with these words, a scandal began between the parties. “You have been silent all this time,” someone shouted to Efremov. “You won’t be happy when I start talking!” the actor raised his voice in response. Only the judge was able to stop the altercation.

"There is always a chance. But it happened that way"

On Tuesday, the court also interrogated the doctor Svetlana Romodanovskaya, who was conducting a medical examination of the body of the deceased Zakharov. She told the audience in detail about the nature of the driver's injuries and even brought toy cars and a doll to the process to describe the collision in more detail.

According to the expert, the injuries from which the man died were received “almost simultaneously.” At the same time, he had a theoretical chance of survival - he had no injuries that would cause death on the spot: “There is always a chance. But that’s how it happened.”

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The main causes of Zakharov’s death were precisely the injuries he received from the collision, Romodanovskaya said: traumatic shock, pneumothorax, blood loss and - the expert focused on this - fat embolism. Due to numerous small fractures (for example, in the feet), particles of adipose tissue entered Zakharov’s vessels. This led to serious circulatory problems.

“Was it possible to save? “Everything was done,” Romodanovskaya answered lawyer Pashayev’s question. “It’s possible, it’s impossible—it’s impossible to say for sure.” In this case, an embolism developed, and sometimes it does not develop.”

Pashayev and the lawyers of the victims were especially interested in whether Zakharov could have received additional injuries due to the fact that immediately after the accident, pedestrians overturned the van that had fallen to one side, in which the driver was trapped. One of Efremov's lines of defense is that Zakharov's death was influenced not only by the collision with the actor's car, but also by the actions of eyewitnesses and doctors.

Romodanovskaya’s answer was unequivocal: “Pedestrians had only a positive impact, because Zakharov’s body took a more natural position.” According to her, serious harm during the movement of the victim can only be caused by a fracture of the spine - Zakharov did not have such injuries.

Pashayev questioned the expert for a long time about whether the ambulance provided sufficient assistance to Zakharov, what kind of first aid it provided, and whether the driver could have been saved if the doctors had started working with him earlier. “Statistically, this increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome,” the expert snapped.

The Efremov case

An accident involving Efremov’s car occurred on the evening of June 8 in the Smolenskaya Square area of ​​Moscow. His jeep flew into the oncoming lane and crashed into a Lada van driven by the courier of the Delikateska company, Valery Zakharov. He died from his injuries at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute.

Efremov was charged under paragraph “a” of Part 4 of Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic rules resulting in the death of a person through negligence). The penalty ranges from five to 12 years in prison. The actor is currently under house arrest.

Based on the results of a medical examination at the dispensary, Efremov was found to have a strong degree of intoxication - about 1,05 ppm. During the trial, the actor’s defense repeatedly hinted that he might not have been driving at the time of the accident. Nevertheless, several witnesses who spoke in the Presnensky court pointed to Efremov as the driver.

According to the case materials, which were read by the prosecution, Efremov’s sweat and grease marks were found on the driver’s airbag of the jeep. And in his urine there are traces of drugs, including cannabinoids.

After the accident, Efremov recorded a video message with words of repentance, but later in court refused to plead guilty, saying that he did not remember anything.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• The accident occurred on June 8 at 21:44 near house 3 on Smolenskaya Square in Moscow. Mikhail Efremov, who was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, drove into the oncoming lane and crashed into a Lada car.
• After the death of a victim in an accident Lada driver the case is investigated under paragraph “a” of part 4 of article 264 of the Criminal Code (“Violation of the rules of the road committed in a state of intoxication and resulting in the death of a person through negligence”). The punishment for her is from 5 to 12 years in prison.
• Efremov at the time of the accident, in which the driver of another car died, was in a state of not only alcohol, but also drug intoxication.
• For other accidents involving stars in which people died, read our material.

Read also on ForumDaily:

'The Efremov case' in Hollywood: does American justice spare celebrities

'I am no more': Efremov for the first time commented on the terrible accident that he arranged in Moscow

Alcohol, drugs, lawyer's failures: how is the case of Mikhail Efremov, who made a fatal accident

How Russian police explain the injuries of torture victims

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