Final Word from Thursday, March 29, 2012
After Roman Janoušek was detained for hit and run, many people assumed he'd hire
big-shot lawyer Tomáš Sokol. It didn't happen, though, and Janoušek is represented
by the lesser-known Vít Široký. With his money frozen in Switzerland and his pipeline
to city hall disrupted, perhaps Janoušek couldn't afford Sokol's asking price
(which is rumored to be in the tens of millions of crowns for such cases). Janoušek
might regret not ponying up the cash. Sokol is a key opinion leader in criminal matters,
and he spoke to Rádio Česko about the "drastic circumstances" of the accident,
involving a "physical attack" by a car. He also said the defense will likely center its
case on whether Janoušek caused "grievous" bodily harm, as measured by whether
the woman is incapacitated for six weeks. Thanks to Sokol, the public now knows
Janoušek has a six-week window for making the victim an offer she can't refuse.[Czech Republic Czech radio serious]
Glossary of difficult words
public prosecutor - (our term, and only in this context) someone who works for free to damage a person's chances in a criminal case (as opposed to a public defender, who seeks to help the accused);
big shot - an important or influential person;
to pony up (money) - to pay (money), esp. as a contribution or an unavoidable expense;
grievous - very severe or serious;
incapacitated - incapable of functioning in a normal way.