Wednesday s guilty verdict in a fatal road accident caused by a drunk driver on Saaremaa in January 2020 was unexpected and may set an encouraging precedent, a legal expert says. At the same time, due to its watershed nature, the ruling is likely to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, he said.
The perpetrator was handed 14 years jail time, for murder, the first time in Estonian legal history a drink driver has been so sentenced.
Jaan Ginter, lawyer and professor of criminology at the University of Tartu, said similar cases in the past had not placed the same emphasis on intent that Wednesday s Pärnu County Court ruling did.