In 2019, juries in Moscow courts acquitted 62% of the accused

In 2019, juries in Moscow district courts acquitted 62% of the accused. TASS reports this with reference to statistics from the Moscow City Court.

In Moscow courts, juries considered 36 criminal cases. 17 defendants were convicted and 28 were acquitted. For comparison, over the six months of 2018, juries considered 11 criminal cases, seven people were convicted and five were acquitted.

In the Moscow City Court, where juries consider cases on the most serious charges, eight criminal cases were heard in 2019. Eight people were convicted and five were acquitted.

In total, in Russia, juries in district courts considered 474 criminal cases against 585 people, convicting 428 and acquitting 153 defendants. In regional courts, juries participated in the consideration of 233 criminal cases against 419 people. 337 of them were convicted and 80 were acquitted.

On February 8, in the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, the jury acquitted 23-year-old Alexander Radtsev, accused of murdering his 90-year-old great-grandmother out of a desire to end her torment.

On February 7, the jury of Moscow's Basmanny Court acquitted a man accused of murdering homosexual Roman Edalov. The defendant partially admitted his guilt, but claimed that he caused the death not intentionally, but by accident - the deceased allegedly “fell on a knife.”