Last update - 00:00 25/12/2006
Court reviews Klagsbald appeal in death by negligence case
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv District Court on Monday reviewed the appeal of attorney Avigdor "Dori" Klagsbald, who was sentenced to 15 months incarceration for causing by negligence the deaths of Yevgenia Wexler, 23, of Bnei Brak and her son Arthur, 5, in a car accident in April.
The accident occurred on April 11, when Klagsbald was driving southwards into Tel Aviv in his Volkswagen Touareg at high speed. About 50 meters before an intersection, his SUV side-swiped several cars waiting at the traffic lights.
According to the prosecution, Klagsbald's negligence lasted for 14 crucial seconds in which he could have prevented the accident, and the court should not take into account the attorney's social status in determining his sentence.
Klagsbald is held to be one of Israel's expert lawyers in defending white-collar offenders, and was the personal attorney of former prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Klagsbald's attorney Dan Sheinman asked the three judges to intervene and replace the prison sentence with community service.
Sheinman was highly critical of the original sentence of 15 months incarceration, 15 months probation, a NIS 10,000 fine, and a 10 year license revocation.
Sheinman claimed that the judge, Yitzhak Gerty, was influenced by the media frenzy surrounding the case, and handed down a sentence that was more severe than sentences in similar cases.
Klagsbald's defense team noted that several days before sentencing him, the judge handed down a more lenient sentence in another case of causing death by negligence.
The head of the judicial team reviewing Klasgbald's appeal, Judge Ze'ev Hammer, noted that ten days after sentencing Klagsbald, Judge Gerty handed down a more lenient sentence in a similar case.
According to an examination conducted by the defense team, the sentence in Klagsbald's case was the harshest sentence that Judge Gerty ever handed down.
The defense team also produced a statistical review of some 201 sentences that demonstrates that in the majority of death by negligence cases the defendant was sentenced to community service, while in majority of the remaining cases the defendant was sentenced to seven to ten months in prison.
The prosecution's representation, attorney Eli Schwartz, requested that the sentence stand, arguing that it was fair if not lenient.
According to Schwartz, most of the cases presented by the defense involved only one casualty.
Schwartz also claimed that Klagsbald's negligence was more severe than that of the defendants in the other cases.
Klagsbald, who has already served nearly two months of his sentence, sat with his head covered throughout the proceedings, and declined to add his own comments when offered the opportunity to do so.