The Minister of Justice, Prosecutor General, filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court against the judgment issued on 19 December 2017 by the Court of Appeal in Wrocław in the case concerning the killing that took place on 28 January 2016 in Jelenia Góra.
The court of first instance found Wojciech P. guilty of all the acts with which he had been charged, including killing, and in its judgment of 30 May 2017 sentenced him to a total of 20 years in prison. Following the appeal against the judgment filed by the defendant’s lawyer, the Court of Appeal in Wrocław reduced the individual sentences imposed on the defendant for the various offenses he had committed and imposed an aggregate sentence of 15 years in prison.
In this situation, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra, through the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra, submitted a request to the Minister of Justice, Prosecutor General, to file a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court.
The Minister of Justice, Prosecutor General, agreed with the arguments of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra and filed an extraordinary appeal with the Supreme Court, seeking to have the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Wrocław set aside and the case referred back for reconsideration in appellate proceedings.
The cassation appeal stated, among other things, that the 15-year prison sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal in Wrocław was manifestly and disproportionately lenient in relation to the degree of social harm caused by the acts and the defendant’s culpability. Although it correctly established the facts, the Court of Appeal failed to give sufficient consideration to the numerous aggravating circumstances concerning the defendant and attached excessive weight to his young age and previous lack of convictions.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the above circumstances did not justify imposing, for the crime of killing and a series of other offenses, a sentence close to the statutory minimum for such acts. The District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra also accused the 18-year-old of committing robberies using a dangerous weapon, offenses against sexual freedom, and causing the danger of a disaster in land traffic.