MOSCOW, July 4 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow Nikulinsky district court has begun merit hearings into a criminal case opened into a traffic accident in which famous actress Marina Golub was killed.
After the prosecutor read out a bill of indictment the defendant, Alexei Rusakov, pleaded not guilty. The criminal charge brought against him is not clear, the defendant said.
The defendant, accused of intentional leaving his victims in helpless condition, has dismissed the charge as absurd. "How can one leave a corpse in helpless condition?", the defendant asked the court.
A witness, Alexander Vasilyev, who had watched the accident and the events which followed, testified that the Hyundai driver had been driving, when the Green light was on, and could not have avoided collision.
Nonetheless, the witness said that Rusakov cannot be blamed for the accident because of an outdated system of the organization of traffic at the crossroads, where the traffic lights change from "Green" to "Red with no yellow light in-between. The witness confirmed that the defendant was absolutely sober, and that he drove away only after both the Hyundai driver and his passenger were declared dead.
The popular actress was killed in the accident overnight to October 10, 2012 .The accident occurred at the crossroads of Vernadsky Prospect and Lobachevsky street. Police claim that a Cadillac run by Alexei Rusakov rushed forward, ignoring banning traffic lights, and rammed a Hyundai where the actress was in a passenger's seat.
Then two more cars a KIA and a LADA, crashed into the Cadillac and the Hyundai. Both the Huyndai driver and the actress were killed on the spot.
The Cadillac driver escaped from the scene.
The 32- year-old Alexei Rusakov, kept in custody now, faces a prison term up to eight years if convicted.