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Seven Years in Prison for Drinking Vodka

January 28, 2009

 Scene of crime

Gela Mtivlishvili

Gurjaani district court is judging 28-year-old Amiran Tsertsvadze. Criminal case materials and testimonies of the witnesses interrogated at the trial, expose that very drunken Tsertsvadze swayed into the booth of other person located next to his father’s house and drank vodka. Although the prosecutor blames the accused person for the attempt of thievery because he illegally entered the strange house. Consequently, Tsertsvadze is charged under the criminal code and prosecutor demands 7-year of imprisonment for him.  

Gurjaani district department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs started investigation on August 24, 2008 after the message was received on the phone. “On August 24 at 9:05 pm we were called by policeman-on-duty Naskidashvili and reported that Maia Dzamukashvili, a resident of the village of Vazisubani in Gurjaani district applied the equipage of patrol policemen patrolling in the village for help. She informed them that a stranger had run out from her cellar and asked the police to check whether anybody else was still there,” stated the protocol. Head of police department assigned the protocol to Ilia Otarashvili, his deputy, for farther reaction. “Notification to investigator Vakhtang Ruadze. We kindly request you to start investigation under Article 19,177 Part III-“c” of the Georgian Criminal Code,” this is the resolution of the head of district police department on the protocol that was drawn after phone message. It must be pointed out that according to case materials when investigation started the police department had no more information about the incident.

Article 19 of the Criminal Code: attempted Murder is the intentional act, which though was openly directed towards commission of a crime but the crime was not completed.

The criminal liability for the crime is envisaged in the article of the code that envisages the charge for the similar crime that was completed.

Article 177 part III of the Criminal Code: stealing, illegal taking of another person’s property after breaking into the house with the support of a group several times.

Lawyer Lia Khuroshvili considers that based on the information in the message the Gurjaani district police department had to start investigation under Article 160 and not Article 177 part III of the Criminal Code. The former envisages illegal breaking into the house of another person; illegal search or other activities that breaches the right of inviolability of the owner of the house or other subject.

On the same day, investigator Ruadze drew up a protocol on the search of scene of crime which states: “the scene of crime is located in the village of Vazisubani in Gurjaani district; it is the house of Maia Dzamukashvili whose yard is not surrounded with fence. This house is one storied stone building which is covered with clay plates. The door of the house is not damaged. …there is a three-liter-glass jar on the cup-board in the room; in it there is a liquid with specific smell. Two meters away from the entrance door there is a plastic gallon in the room in which there is white liquid with specific smell.”

After searching the scene of incident the investigation decided to find Maia Dzamukashvili as a victim. The resolution on victim-recognition states that Dzamukashvili received moral damage. The protocol on interrogation the victim states: On July 24 2008 at 7:00 am I went to work in the field. My brother stayed at home who intended to go to our neighbors to work there. Our door-lock does not work and cannot lock the house. We usually lock it from the inside and then get out of the house through the window in the cellar. Since the house is damp we do not close the door to the cellar. It was about 7:00 pm when I returned home. I heard some noises coming from the cellar. I thought it was a cat and did not pay attention to it. I went to the farm which is 150 meters away and took my calf there; I returned back in ten minutes. I heard the noise again; it was sound of foot on the floor. I thought my brother had returned and I called him but nobody replied. I understood that somebody was in the cellar; I entered home and opened the window in my bedroom. At that moment, Amiran Tsertsvadze, my neighbor, leaned towards me. I shouted at him: “Were you stealing vodka?” and hit preserver into the head which I had borrowed from my neighbor. I got afraid not to irritate him more and rushed out into the yard. I started shouting that Amiran Tsertsvadze had broken into my house to rob it and I called people for help,” said Maia Dzamukashvili and answers additional question of the investigator that she did not receive any material damage on that day because “much vodka was not taken, but I received moral damage.”

On August 25, 2008 at 1:18 pm Gurjaani district police department received another phone call. This time, doctor Kachiuri from Gurjaani district hospital reported to the police that Amiran Tsertsvadze was brought to the hospital who had injuries on his forehead. According to the report, the patient could not recall where he was injured. Several minutes later, Marina Potskhverashvili, detective-investigator of Gurjaani district police department, found Tsertsvadze guilty for robbing the house of Maia Dzamukashvili and arrested him.

During the interrogation Tsertsvadze said: “On August 22, 2008 I visited my father in Vazisubani village, Gurjaani district. In the morning of August 24 I got drunk at home with vodka. I left the house close to evening. My father told me that certain Ana was selling vodka in approximately 200 meters away from our house and I went there. I bought half liters of vodka and drank alone. I got even drunker. In the evening I drank at the part with my friends in the house of my brother’s friend. I drank vodka there too. I do not remember what happened next. I do not remember if I entered someone’s house.”

Extract from the testimony of witness Davit Uzenashvili, interrogated during the preliminary investigation: “Gocha Abazashvili and I were talking in an operator’s room of a gas station when we heard Maia Dzamukashvili screaming. Maia was calling Gocha. We left the gas station and went towards the house of Dzamukashvili. Maia told us that she heard some noise from the house and when she opened the window she saw a young man in her house. She said his name but I do not remember. She said she hit something in his head. After having told this, Maia stopped a patrol police. Probably she told them about the incident.”
 
Witness Nodar Rusishvili said that he heard Maia Dzamukashvili screaming and went into the street to find out what was going on.  “Maia asked me to watch when Amiran would leave her house and make sure that he had not taken anything from her house. Amiran left the house but I saw that he had nothing in his hands. He was very drunk. He could barely stand on his feet. He even fell down several times. Probably he went home,” said witness Rusitashvili.

On August 26, 2008 the court passed verdict against Amiran Tsertsvadze. “On August 24, 2008 Amiran Tsertsvadze, residing in 13 Tbilisi Street, Rustavi town was visiting his father in the village of Vazisubani. During his visit he got drunk. Being not sober he decided to rob Maia Dzamukashvili’s house which is situated in the neighborhood of the house of Amiran Tsertsvadze’s father. In the evening of the same day he came to Maia Dzamukashvili’s house. After having learned that there was no one in the house he entered the house illegally from the door which was unlocked. He tried to seize some household things. Tsertsvadze had been planning to take a 20- liter plastic can and 3- liter glass pot with vodka when the house owner caught him red-handed. Tsertsvadze tried to escape. Frightened Dzamukashvili hit him and rushed into the street screaming and calling for help. Amiran Tsertsvadze took advantage of this situation and left the crime scene,” this is an extract from the resolution which served as the basis for the prosecutor to file a motion on passing verdict of two months pre trial detention against Tsertsvadze. Judge Shalva Mchedlishvili upheld the motion.

The case materials show that after having sentenced Amiran Tsertsvadze to two months pre-trial detention the investigation did not go further. On October 17, 2008 Giorgi Kokiashvili, the prosecutor of Gurjaani District Prosecutor’s Office wrote a bill of indictment and sent the case to Gurjaani District Court.

Witnesses Uzenashvili and Rusishvili did not change their testimonies on the trial but they said that the investigator had dictated them the testimonies during the preliminary investigation. Prosecutor Kokiashvili demanded them publicly to stop talking about this. The prosecutor filed a motion on publishing the testimonies of Uzenashvili and Rusishvili. He threatened if they did not agree with their first testimonies they would be arrested. Lela Tusashvili, Amiran Tsertsvadze’s attorney protested it. However, Judge Mchedlishvili did not reprimand the prosecutor for threatening the witnesses. The prosecutor proceeded to lead the trial. Witness Beka Komladze testified that Amiran Tsertsvadze was drinking vodka with him and with other young men in the house of a friend named Spartak. When the feast was over, Beka himself accompanied Amiran to the house. He also said that he found drunk Amiran lying at the fence with blood on his body. However, the prosecutor did not express interest to his testimony.

The prosecutor did not pay attention to the mistake of the investigator. The investigator indicated in the inspection protocol of crime scene that Maia Dzamukashvili’s house was made of stone which is not true. According to the case materials, the crime was committed on August 24, 2008 while Maia Dzamukashvili indicated in her testimony that the crime was committed on July 24, 2008. The prosecutor’s office did not pay attention to the fact that Dzamukashvili’s cellar does not have a floor. There is only soil there. However, Dzamukashvili said in her statement that she heard the noise of Tsertsvadze walking in the cellar. It is impossible because shoes or slippers do not produce sound on the soil. The witnesses, including the victim have never said in their testimonies that Dzamukashvili was intending to steal various household things from Dzamukashvili’s apartment. This is what Dzamukashvili told the investigation about vodka: “I think Amiran wanted to steal vodka from my cellar but he did not enough time for this.” She also added that nothing was stolen from the house.” However, Prosecutor Kokiashvili writes in the bill of indictment: “Amiran Tsertsvadze was trying to take hold of various household things secretly.”

It is noteworthy that the court did not express interest to examine the circumstances similar to the investigation.

Prosecutor Kokiashvili demands 7 years of prison term for the accused. He justifies this demand with the fact that Amiran Tsertsvadze had already been convicted once.

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