The case of Paweł Kozanecki, a patron of “coffins on wheels”. We have learned the opinion on the fatal accident

The document states that a Mercedes driven by attorney Paweł Kozanecki (he agreed to provide data and present his image) crossed the center line of the road and blocked the path of an Audi in which two women were traveling. The maneuver took place when both cars – traveling in opposite directions – were twelve meters apart. Exactly 0.8 seconds later, a tragic collision occurred.

Read also: He talked about “coffins on wheels”, he lost his license to practice his profession again

Two women driving a vintage Audi died on the spot. According to the expert, the woman whose lawyer from Łódź blocked her on the road had no chance to react. In the content of the opinion revealed by the Olsztyn court on Monday, the expert indicated that the human body needs from 0.8 to 1 second to correctly assess the threat and take defensive actions. An expert from the Central Forensic Laboratory of the Police noted that even if the driver of the Audi had managed to press the brake at that time, an additional 0.3 seconds would be needed for the system to start working.

The tragedy occurred on September 26, 2021 on the Barczewo-Jeziorany route around 5:40 p.m. Attorney Paweł Kozanecki was returning from a wedding with his wife and four-year-old son. There were two women in the second car – 53- and 67-year-olds. That afternoon they went to visit the family (the children of the deceased women are married).

The case became famous after the lawyer posted a video on the Internet in which he stated that the women in the Audi died because they were “driving coffins on wheels.” The lawyer advised that it would be better to save up or borrow money for a better car.

The opinion presented during the criminal trial confirms what the police called to the scene of the tragedy stated at the very beginning – that the Mercedes driver left his lane and hit the Audi, which was driving correctly. The content of the disclosed expert report includes the testimony of an officer working at the scene of the accident. He indicated that most of the traces were found on the lane where the Audi vehicle was supposed to be driving – which was documented in photographic documentation.

An expert from the Central Forensic Laboratory said that “numerous pieces of evidence” indicate Mr. Kozanecki's guilt. What?

Sand was found scattered on the lane where the Audi was driving. The expert stated that it fell off the left front wheel arches of both vehicles at the time of the collision.

In addition, the expert drew attention to the carved marks that were created when the damaged Mercedes body scraped across the asphalt – this mark starts on the lane where the Audi was driving and is carved all the way to the place where the Mercedes stopped.

The expert found that the post-accident arrangement of the vehicles also leaves no doubt that it was the lawyer from Łódź who left his lane and caused the accident – the Mercedes he was driving was turned counterclockwise after the accident, and the Audi fell into a roadside ditch.

The author of the expert opinion took into account the readings from the data recorder, i.e. the so-called black box from the Mercedes driven by the lawyer from Łódź. The device – as we read in the opinion – recorded the course of the last five seconds before the accident.

The recorder recorded that immediately before the collision the Mercedes accelerated – from about 60 to about 66 km/h. The expert indicated that five seconds before the accident, the car driven by Attorney Kozanecki was deviated to the left from the straight direction.

“The steering wheel was set at an angle of 10 degrees to the left from the straight-ahead position,” the expert reports.

Three and a half seconds before the collision, the left turn deepened to 22 degrees. The last one and a half seconds is a return turn – to the right. “Steering wheel turn to 12 degrees.” – pointed out the expert.

The expert estimated that at the moment of the collision the Audi was traveling at a speed of 64 km/h. The speed limit at the accident site is 70 km/h.

Read also: A lawyer will be brought to court for causing the death of two women. After the tragedy, he talked about “coffins on wheels”.

On Monday, the court heard the expert. As reported by Daniel Brodowski, spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Olsztyn, who was present at the hearing, the expert answered primarily questions and doubts raised by the accused lawyer's defense.

– After the hearing, the court decided on the need to prepare a supplementary opinion in which it would refer to the issues raised during the ongoing trial – said the prosecutor.

He added that during the prosecutor's investigation, the accused exercised his right to refuse to provide explanations.

– This only changed in the courtroom, where the accused decided to tell his version of events – said prosecutor Brodowski.

During the investigation, the accused lawyer's wife provided her version of events. She claimed that immediately before the accident her husband was driving in accordance with the regulations:

“I am sure that the collision occurred in our lane, on a straight section of the road. Before the incident, both my husband and I were looking at the road, my husband did not perform any activities that could distract his attention,” we read in the testimony quoted in the opinion of the expert who reconstructed course of the tragedy.

She explained that the Mercedes had systems installed that warn against crossing the lane by shaking the steering wheel.

Attorney Władysław Marczewski, defense attorney of the accused Paweł Kozanecki, called the expert's opinion on the reconstruction of the accident “extremely unprofessional.” Why? In an interview with tvn24.pl, he noted that – in his opinion – it was prepared “for a specific thesis”.

– I don't want to judge my client's words about “coffins on wheels”. What shouldn't have happened happened. However, I do not understand why the opinion does not mention that the technical condition of the Audi could have had a key impact on what happened that day – said the lawyer.

He said that the Audi “was a foldable”. – This results directly from the entries of the Central Register of Vehicles and Drivers. The body had to be separated from the chassis and drive system of the vehicle and then reassembled. For this reason alone, it was not a vehicle with factory technical characteristics. In addition, the vehicle had a collision in July and an inspection in August. Between one event and the next, its course decreased. The car was in such a condition that at the time of the accident the headlight, battery and entire radiator fell out of it – the lawyer calculated.

The lawyer also questions the expert's calculations regarding the speed of the vehicles. – The appointed expert tried to match the evidence collected in the case to the version accepted from the beginning that my client was guilty. The doubts I raised caused the court to request a supplementary opinion, said the defense lawyer.

According to the indictment, Paweł Kozanecki intentionally violated safety rules in land traffic and caused an accident in which two people died. He faces up to eight years in prison. The lawyer pleaded not guilty.

The investigation also revealed that trace amounts of cocaine were detected in the lawyer's body. They were too small for the prosecutor's office to charge the driver with driving under the influence of drugs. When asked in a television interview about the presence of the drug in his body, Paweł Kozanecki said: “I have never consciously consumed cocaine.”

During the investigation, the prosecutor's office secured the defendant's property worth PLN 300,000.

The next hearing is to be held at the end of June, the next date is set after the holidays – in September 2024. Three years after the tragic accident.