The head of the LAS Tbilisi Bureau, Sulkhan Komakhidze, defended Zaza S. who was accused of committing the crimes envisaged by paragraph D of the first part of article 19-109 (premeditated murder for covering another crime or facilitating its perpetration), paragraph C of the second part of article 179 (robbery i.e. explicitly taking possession of other’s movable object for the purpose of its misappropriation, committed under violence dangerous for life or health or under threat of such violence and against a vehicle) and article 390 (avoiding by a military serviceman military service by self-inflicted bodily injury) of Criminal Code of Georgia.
According to the case materials, Zaza S. while being in a granted absence from compulsory military service, with the aim to avoid the service, cut the index finger of his right hand. On October 14, 2015, in Tbilisi, with the purpose of committing the robbery, stopped a taxi and hit several times to the taxi-driver in his neck while driving. The former stopped the car and tried to escape the aggressor. But Zaza S. caught the driver and demanded money, mobile phone and keys of the car from him with threat of the knife. In order to cover the crime, he intended to kill Vladimer I., inflicted multiple injuries to his back and neck and escaped. After several minutes, Vladimer I. was able to call emergency and was saved from death.
The jury fully shared the position of the defense party that the defendant did not commit the attempt of premeditated murder to cover other crime or to facilitate its perpetration; did not commit robbery against a vehicle; did not commit the self-inflicted bodily injury in order to avoid the military service and acquitted him in the presented charge.
With the offer from the defense party, the jury found Zaza S. guilty in committing the less serious crime – inflicting minor health damage and robbery. As a final preventive measure, the defendant was sentenced to 6 years of restriction of liberty.