The two men who were on trial during the main proceedings were later sentenced to four years in prison for serious weapons offenses. But now the verdict is being overturned – due to suspicions that the judge was sleeping.
”The chairman sat further with his head down and closed eyes during parts of the main proceedings and appeared very tired”, writes one of the men's lawyers to the Göta Court of Appeal according to NA.
According to the lawyer, there was a moment when it became completely silent when the prosecutor turned to the judge.
"It cannot have escaped anyone who was present and could see the chairman that he was actually sleeping”, writes the lawyer.
The judge himself claims, however, that he did not sleep at all, and calls this "a vile lie".
According to the Göta Court of Appeal, it is not possible to determine whether the judge fell asleep or not, but that the judge "in any case was inattentive during such a time and in such a way that the court's judicial capacity was breached".
The court finds serious procedural errors and the entire case must therefore be retried.
