On 28 March 2023, the Supreme Court overturned the final judgement issued in our Client’s case. We took over the defence after our Client had already partially served his prison time. The Supreme Court remitted the case for retrial. This is a consequential fact, as the criminal records of our Client have been cleared as a result. It is extremely rare for the Court to make such a choice. This outcome marks yet another success of SMM Legal’s criminal law team led by Mr. Krzysztof Urbańczak.
The Client, a former entrepreneur, was charged with fraud and harming creditors by allegedly siphoning assets out of the company. He came to our Firm already after he had been finally convicted and had served a portion of the sentence. However, in the meantime, new evidence and facts emerged suggesting that he had not committed the crimes he was convicted of.
‘We relied on this circumstance to resort to an extraordinary measure of petitioning the Supreme Court to resume a trial finally ended with a valid judgement in view of the new evidence and facts,’ explains Mr. Krzysztof Urbańczak. ‘We drafted and submitted the petition together with Ms. Lidia Ignaczak,’ adds Mr. Urbańczak.
The Supreme Court agreed with the arguments presented in the petition and overturned the final judgement, remitting the case for retrial before the court of appeals.
‘The case is not over yet,’ says Ms. Lidia Ignaczak. ‘Nevertheless, when overturning the final judgement, the Supreme Court had to consider the possibility that a judicial error has been made and an innocent person has been convicted,’ explains Ms. Ignaczak.
‘What matters most for the Client is that his criminal records have been formally cleared,’ clarifies Mr. Urbańczak.
Now the case will be re-examined by the court of appeals.
