Simeon’s daughter Saxoburgo-Gothic strikes a potter in reverse, the dredger reported 1.5 ppm of alcohol in her blood, refused a blood test
5 more like her caught on Saturday
The daughter of the former Prime Minister Simeon of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Kalina Muñoz, is the first known “victim” of the changes in the Penal Code, according to which the cars of drunk and drugged drivers are confiscated.
On Saturday, she crashed her Suzuki Jimny SUV in Borovets and tried to escape, and the police doctor reported 1.5 percent alcohol in her blood.
26 drivers were caught drunk behind the wheel on the same day by 4 p.m. One of them is Kalina Muñoz. 6 of all, including the princess, had a blood alcohol level of over 1.2.
They will be accused and judged and there is also a real danger that they will part with their cars or their equivalent. Dredger showed between 0.5 and 1.2 for the other 20 drivers. An administrative fine is provided for them. Another 17 sat down to drive after taking drugs on the day off.
The data are from the Specialized Police Operation for Compliance with the Road Traffic Act, which was launched a year ago after another serious incident in the center of Sofia. On July 5, 2022, drugged recidivist Georgi Semerdzhiev killed two young women with his jeep on Cherhi Vrah Blvd. The action with mass checks for alcohol and drugs began on July 8 and continues until today.
From July 8, 2022 to July 8, 2023, 10,483 drunk drivers were caught. This is 238 more than the same period in 2021-2022, when there were far fewer checks. Those who are accused, i.e. with blood sugar readings above 1.2 ppm like Kalina Muñoz, are 4980.
4,911 people were arrested for the year with drugs behind the wheel. All of them were charged and brought to court, because driving under the influence of drugs is a crime, as well as with more than 1.2 per million of alcohol in the blood.
However, from the start of the campaign until mid-summer, the number of drunk and drugged drivers remained constant every day. Then it became clear that only increased control on the roads would not do. Every day of the action, a total of 30 to 50 drunk and drugged drivers were caught, with an average of 9-10 thousand checked on the road. Additionally, between 6 and 12 people refused to be drug tested. The idea of criminalizing the refusal also passed the parliament, but for the second time.
For the first refusal, a fine of BGN 2,000 and revocation of the driver’s license for 2 years is imposed, as before, and in the case of a repeated refusal – a charge with a stipulated penalty of up to 6 months in prison and the same fine.
Therefore, the deputies once again changed the Penal Code in August of this year, at the end of the work session before the summer vacation.
For years, the former appellate prosecutor of Plovdiv, Rosen Dimov, as well as the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office, which, however, has the right to proposals, but not to legislative initiatives, called for this.
Thus, in the case of several proposals for changes in the NC of the parties in the National Assembly, they were considered together. And it was accepted that the court should confiscate the cars in favor of the state in the following 3 hypotheses, when there is criminal liability:
1. If the driver is caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 1.2 per mille;
2. If he is convicted of the same and caught behind the wheel again with more than 0.5 per thousand, for which otherwise the fine is only administrative;
3. In the case of reported presence of drugs by the doctor or the blood sample.
If the vehicle is not the property of the driver, it is assessed and the culprit pays its equivalent, it is already written in the Criminal Code.
In the short time since the adoption of the changes, so far there has been no court act ordering the confiscation of a car driven by a drunk or drugged person.
But the police started seizing cars in such cases. On the very first day after the promulgation of the changes in the Criminal Code, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor’s Office in Burgas, for example, provided information on 2 cases – a shooting range and a car whose drivers were caught with alcohol and drugs behind the wheel. In 2 weeks there are dozens of cases in the country.
The point at issue is whether the police can impound the car without a court order. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs acts according to its own regulations – it seizes cars as a means of committing a crime. This is not a confiscation in favor of the state, such as is imposed only by the court.
The guilty driver is given a protocol to voluntarily surrender the car.
If he refuses to sign, a pretrial motion is filed in court. The cars will be returned on acquittals at the end of the case or confiscated if the magistrates so decide. In the case of Kalina Munoz she betrayed voluntarily the car.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon. Around 3:20 p.m., Kalina was driving a Suzuki Jimmy jeep. She was looking for her dog that disappeared in the morning. During a reverse gear maneuver in the parking lot of a hotel, he hit a barrier and a planter. An employee was nearly swept away.
Kalina started to run, but the guard stopped her. Her husband Kitin Munoz claims she only wanted to move the Suzuki out of the way. Officers said the scene should have been preserved, and even if she hadn’t been running, Kalina shouldn’t have moved the car.
The breathalyzer sample showed 1.5 parts per million of alcohol. An ambulance came to the scene, but since she was not injured, Munoz refused to be examined. Kitin commented on the sample as well. “She may have had a glass of wine, but that’s not drinking alcohol. That’s nothing. The incident is minor,” he pointed out.
Forensics conducted an inspection, and Kalina was taken to the hospital to give blood. She refused. Therefore, the doctor’s testimony is accepted as true. Since it is a crime, Kalina was detained for 24 hours. The prosecutor’s office charged her with drunk driving. The daughter of Simeon of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha may receive from 1 to 3 years in prison, a fine of BGN 1,500 and pay the BGN equivalent of the jeep. The prosecutor’s office explained that they will assess whether there is evidence of another crime, possibly the accident.
Lawyers immediately reacted to the changes in the Criminal Code and the actions of the Ministry of the Interior. They urged drivers not to sign protocols to voluntarily surrender their cars and predicted a series of lawsuits against the police.
Others declared the amendments to be discriminatory, because if a drunk driver drives someone else’s car for BGN 1,000, he will pay its equivalent value. But someone else who drives one for 200 thousand BGN, for example, will have to part with this amount at the sentencing, which means that the sanction is different for the same crime.
How many people died in accidents with drunk, drugged or unlicensed drivers, read in the next issue of “24 chasa”
2023-08-20 19:17:00
#Princess #Kalinas #Suzuki #among #victims #law #takes #cars #drunks #drug #addicts #Infographic
