A woman who murdered her own child is already free. The verdict was overturned because it was issued by a “neo-judge”
The Supreme Court overturned the final judgment in the case of Magdalena P., who in 2024 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her newborn child. The reason? The case was adjudicated by a judge who had participated in proceedings before the National Council of the Judiciary after 2017. The woman, who had already been serving her sentence, has been released.
The case is reported by the portal Gazeta.pl. It concerns a tragedy from October 2021. At that time, 27-year-old Magdalena P. was admitted to a hospital in Krasnystaw. The woman complained of lower abdominal pain and was bleeding. It turned out that earlier that day she had given birth to a child.
“In the woman’s home in the Izbica municipality, the body of a newborn was found hidden in a linen bag. The child was born in the 33rd week of pregnancy. An autopsy showed that with proper hospital care, the newborn would have had a chance to survive” – the local portal Supertydzien.pl reported at the time.
P. was charged with murder. Courts of two instances unanimously sentenced the woman to 10 years and 1 month in prison.
As it turns out, on December 11 last year, the Supreme Court overturned both verdicts and referred the case back to the Regional Court in Zamość for reconsideration. How was this justified?
“The reason for overturning the judgment in this case is the adjudication by the Regional Court in Zamość with the participation of a judge who, by a decision of the President of the Republic of Poland dated March 13, 2023, was appointed to the position of judge of the Regional Court in Zamość (the nomination was received on March 22, 2023), which occurred upon the motion of the National Council of the Judiciary, shaped in accordance with the procedure set out in the provisions of the amending act” – it was written in the justification.
“It is also not without significance that [the judge] had already applied several times for promotion to the position of regional court judge, and until the promotion finally obtained in 2023, she had not successfully passed any competition procedure. Her attempts took place in 2005, 2007 and 2009. In those competition proceedings, the judge received ‘moderately positive’ opinions from judicial inspectors, and in the first procedure she also received a negative opinion from the College of the Regional Court in Zamość” – the Supreme Court indicated.
The reporting judge was Jacek Błaszczyk. The same one who three years ago signed a statement declaring that he would not adjudicate jointly with judges appointed by the so-called new National Council of the Judiciary.
The woman walks free
Along with overturning the verdict, the Supreme Court decided to impose pretrial detention on the woman so that she would not interrupt serving her sentence and would not leave prison. P. filed an appeal and thus triumphed for the second time.
On January 22, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier decision on pretrial detention. It decided only to apply police supervision, with the obligation to report once a week to a police unit. The woman was also banned from leaving the country.
Here, in its justification, the Supreme Court emphasized that “overturning the judgments of both instances formally restored the presumption of innocence, and the accused should be treated accordingly.”
The woman who murdered her own child is already enjoying her freedom and the presumption of innocence.