MOSCOW, October 1 (RAPSI) – Russian actor Mikhail Efremov has filed an application for cancellation of services of his former defense lawyers Elman Pashayev and Elizaveta Shargorodskaya, RAPSI has learnt from the press service of Moscow’s Presnensky District Court.

Efremov stated that he did not want appeals against sentence in a fatal road traffic case against him lodged by Pashayev and Shargorodskaya to be considered.

Earlier, the actor filed his personal appeal reading that he repented and seeking for mitigation of sentence given to him as his position was driven by Pashayev’s pressure.

Moreover, Efremov’s sentence was appealed by his new defense team, Petr Kharkhorin and Vladimir Vasilyev, and his former attorneys Pashayev and Shargorodskaya.

On September 8, the actor received 8 years in penal colony for and was banned Efremov from driving for three years. The court returned him his broken Jeep. The court found that victim Sergey Zakharov was killed in the accident due to the defendant's driving behaviour.

 When delivering sentence Judge Elena Abramova said Efremov needed no compulsory psychiatric care. The defendant accepted the danger of his actions and did not suffer serious mental diseases, the judge stated. However, the court considered his guilty plea during the pretrial investigation and his three minor children as mitigating circumstances.

On September 3, a prosecutor demanded an 11-year imprisonment for Efremov and driving ban for 3 years. That day, the court heard the parties’ arguments. Before the beginning Efremov made a plea of guilty. Earlier, he refused to admit his guilt and said he remembered nothing.

On the evening of June 8, Efremov driving his car crossed into the oncoming lane in central Moscow and collided with a delivery service vehicle. He was arrested on the scene. Alcohol and drugs were reportedly found in his blood. Victim Sergey Zakharov was taken to hospital where he died early in the morning of June 9.