Another trial hearing took place in Budapest yesterday in the case of an Irish man accused of killing a female American tourist in the Hungarian capital in November 2024.
Mackenzie Michalski, a 31-year-old nurse from the US, was visiting Budapest and went missing on 4 November 2024.
Police arrested a 38-year-old Irish male suspect three days later.
The Irish citizen has been held in police custody for the past 17 months, initially while police completed a 12-month investigation into the cause of Ms Michalski's death.
Last November, Budapest's Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office filed a charge of basic homicide against the Irish man, which denotes that no premeditation was involved.
The Irish man maintains that the cause of Ms Michalski's death was not intentional.
At yesterday's hearing, an expert psychiatrist provided an assessment for the court of the accused’s state of mind, and was of the view that the accused could re-offend, a spokesperson for Budapest's Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office told RTÉ News.
The defence lawyer requested that a new expert psychiatrist be appointed for further hearings, arguing that the current expert psychiatrist did not provide an objective assessment.
The defence lawyer also requested that the accused be granted bail, set at 25 million forints (€69,000).
The trial judge is considering both the defence’s request for a new expert psychiatrist and the request for bail. Previous requests for bail for the accused have been denied by the court.
The Budapest Chief Prosecutor's Office is seeking a prison sentence in the case without the possibility of parole.
In Hungary, the crime of basic homicide is punishable with a sentence of five to 15 years in prison.
The next hearing is scheduled for 19 June in Budapest.
