Driver from Iași convicted of drink-driving escapes prison because he was already incarcerated
Mihai Țăpoi avoided detention after the court discovered he was already in prison during the trial. The Court of Appeal replaced his conviction with a fine of 30,000 lei.
Summoned at home, though he was at Rahova: how a drunk driver escaped prison
A man from Iași County convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol avoided serving a prison sentence after the Court of Appeal established that he had been tried in absentia — despite being incarcerated in Romania at that time. The case is reported by G4Media, citing Ziarul de Iași.
Mihai Țăpoi was stopped by police on the evening of 14 January 2023 on a country road, while driving a friend home. He had not broken any traffic rules, but the breathalyser indicated 1.01‰ — slightly above the criminal limit. He was sent for trial to Hârlău District Court for driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Summonses sent to his home address did not reach Țăpoi. At the first hearing, his wife stated that the man was abroad. Three months later, an official report noted that the defendant could not be brought by warrant, as he was allegedly working abroad. His lawyer stated in the same case file that in fact the client was incarcerated in Germany, though he was unable to present any evidence of this.
Convicted as a repeat offender
Without the defendant's presence and without a written statement admitting guilt, the judges at Hârlău had no legal option other than to hand down a custodial sentence. Țăpoi had a previous conviction for robbery — the rehabilitation period had not expired — so the court tried him as a repeat offender and imposed one and a half years in prison.
He appealed the sentence, arguing that the penalty was disproportionate to the offence and that he had admitted guilt during the criminal investigation phase, being unable to reiterate it before the court only because of his incarceration — "objective reasons", in his lawyer's formulation.
Court of Appeal: mandatory checks were not carried out
The judges at the Court of Appeal ruled in Țăpoi's favour. They established that Hârlău District Court should have ordered checks regarding the defendant's situation, even in the absence of concrete evidence presented by the lawyer. Between the lawyer's statement in court and the handing down of the conviction, ten months passed without anyone verifying where Țăpoi was.
Specifically, one month before the conviction, Țăpoi had been transferred to Romania and was in Rahova Penitentiary. According to the law, a detainee summoned to a trial must be physically brought to the courtroom, except where he himself requests trial in absentia. This obligation had not been respected, which led to the quashing of the sentence and referral of the case for retrial at Hârlău.
Fine instead of detention
Upon retrial, the court decided to replace the prison sentence with a criminal fine of 30,000 lei, equivalent to 250 days' fine. The sentence is not final: Țăpoi has appealed it in turn, and proceedings are scheduled to resume in November before the Court of Appeal.
Source: G4Media