Court overturned conviction for drugs. Summons sent to wrong digital mailbox
The Supreme Court has overturned a sentence against a man convicted of drug manufacturing. The regional court sent notification of the public hearing to the businessman's digital mailbox, even though the criminal activity was unrelated to his business.
Court overturned conviction for drugs. Summons sent to wrong digital mailbox
A man sentenced to 28 months for drug manufacturing has successfully appealed to the Supreme Court. The court overturned the sentence because the regional court in Liberec sent the defendant a summons to an incorrect electronic mailbox.
The accused had a digital mailbox for a self-employed individual. The court sent notification of the public hearing to that mailbox. However, the individual never logged into the mailbox, and after ten days, the legal fiction of delivery occurred. The man did not know about the hearing, did not appear, and was convicted in his absence.
In his appeal, the defendant pointed out that his criminal activity had no connection whatsoever to his business activities. According to current case law, it was therefore not possible to serve documents to his business digital mailbox unless he himself had designated it as the address for service in this specific criminal case. He did not do so.
The state prosecutor of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office took the defendant's side. He described the court's procedure as an elementary error. He pointed out that during the preparatory proceedings and before the first-instance court, documents had been served by post without any problems. The regional court's different approach was therefore unjustified.
The Supreme Court ordered the case to be sent back for new proceedings. In its decision, it established that the public hearing conducted without proper service of a summons violated the defendant's right to a fair trial. The five-day deadline for preparation for the hearing was not observed.
Source: Google News CZ — Crime (cs)