THE District Court of Nicosia will announce on June 26 its decision on the case of Efi Herodotou, in connection with the fatal accident in which 17-year-old Emilios Ioannou died just over ten years ago. At the time, she was driving a car which crashed into the victim’s motorbike at a Limassol junction.
Herodotou had been wanted by police since 2011 over the December 27, 2007 incident in which Ioannou was killed. She had been living in Greece with her parents after she had been acquitted in the first trial in 2009. She and her parents were extradited to Cyprus earlier this year.
State prosecutors preparing for an appeal discovered that evidence submitted in her original trial had been forged and tampered with, and at least one defence witness had perjured himself.
On Friday, 30-year-old Efi Herodotou faced a number of charges, having committed a dangerous act due to lack of attention, dangerous driving and non-compliance with a traffic signal.
Closing arguments were presented by the representative of the legal service, Antigoni Michael, and defence lawyer Chris Triantafyllidis.
In his final speech, Triantafyllidis argued that the first charge of causing death due to lack of attention due to a dangerous act is linked to the second charge, non-compliance with a traffic light, adding that unless the second is not proven the first is nullified.
Since they are linked and the second is faulty, the court will not be able to prove the irrational, reckless and dangerous act referred to in the first charge.
The defence lawyer said that it was not disputed that the defendant was not speeding and that the traffic light changed from green to orange when she was five metres before the line, something that was confirmed by eyewitness Stella Panayiotou.
A report by police officer Loucas saying that if she went through the lights when they were orange the moped of Emilios Ioannou must have gone through when it was red was also not disputed, he said.
She was also not the only eyewitness, but the co-driver who was in the car at the time should know exactly what happened. When he was summoned to court he said he was unable to remember anything because he was suffering from shock, but in his statement from 2007 he said she crossed the junction when the traffic lights were green.
The defence lawyer argued that since 2007 eye witness Stella Panayiotou has given three versions of what happened to police and the court.
Antigoni Michel of the state Legal Service argued that testimony which has been presented in this case is so reliable and clear that it “allows the court to draw safe conclusions and to convict the accused of both of the charges she faces,” adding that the case had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Contrary to the defence, with regard to the first charge of thoughtless and reckless driving, Michael said that “in this case the accused showed selfish behaviour, intentional offense or recklessness and was not paying attention.”
“She approached the traffic light, did not slow down, crossed the junction when the traffic light was red and violently clashed with the moped,” she said.
In connection with the violation of the traffic light, Michael said that the testimony of the eyewitness, together with the testimony of public works officer Philippos Mouzouras and Limassol municipal employee Theodoros Theodorou, “leave no room for the court to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the accused crossing the junction when the light was red caused the fatal accident in question.”
She concluded that the defence has not produced any explanation that would invalidate or reverse this conclusion.
