The Court of Appeals upheld the verdict of the Podgorica Higher Court, which sentenced Zlatko Jovanović to 30 years in prison in October last year for the murder of Zoran Pavićević in November 2020 in Danilovgrad.
After the panel session on April 15, the Court of Appeals issued a verdict rejecting the appeal of Jovanović's defense attorney as unfounded.
Jovanović was found guilty of the crime of "aggravated murder" at the "Obala" restaurant in Danilovgrad, on the night between November 23 and 24, 2020, and sentenced to a long-term prison sentence, which includes time spent in custody.
Deciding on the appeal of the defendant's defense counsel, the Court of Appeal of Montenegro assessed that the Higher Court in Podgorica, by properly assessing the evidence and the defendant's defense, had established all decisive facts, for which it provided clear, sufficient and convincing reasons in the verdict, and therefore "the unfounded appeal allegations challenge the correctness and completeness of the established factual situation as well as the correctness of the conclusions drawn from the first-instance verdict".
"In the opinion of the Court of Appeal, the first instance court undoubtedly established, based on the evidence presented, the DNA expert report, the statement of the forensic genetics expert, the autopsy report and the statement of the forensic medicine expert, and other evidence, that the accused intentionally and out of selfishness deprived the victim of Zoran Pavićević's life, by stabbing the victim three times with a knife and inflicting at least 19 blows to the head with a solid mechanical tool while the victim defended himself from the blows, thus causing bodily injuries that resulted in the victim's death, during which the accused took all the money that was there from the restaurant bar," the Court of Appeal announced.
The verdict will be published on the website of the Court of Appeal.
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