Facts
The appellants, the parents and brother of the deceased, lodged an appeal against the discontinuation order of the Public Prosecutor's Office Brugg-Zurzach and the decision of the High Court of the Canton of Aargau. The deceased had been found by his wife, the respondent 2, in a non-awakenable state on 23 July 2018 and later died in hospital. The autopsy revealed that the death was caused by poisoning with opioids.
The appellants argued that the respondent 2 had alerted the emergency services too late and thus prevented the rescue of the victim. They requested that the decision of the High Court be set aside and the matter be remanded to the lower court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court (FSCA) examined whether the lower court had violated the principle of in dubio pro duriore by denying the sufficient suspicion of the offenses of abandonment and failure to provide emergency assistance. The court found that the lower court had justifiably assumed a clear state of evidence when it ordered the discontinuation of the proceedings.
The court pointed out that the evidence was not sufficient to justify a conviction of the respondent 2. The lower court had found that the respondent 2 had helped the victim by alerting the emergency…