Facts
The appellant [A.] was sentenced by the District Court of Zurich to a prison term of four years for multiple attempted serious bodily harm and a stationary therapeutic measure was ordered pursuant to Art. 59 SCC. The appellant had been in therapeutic detention at the Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich since February 2018. In the course of therapy, new insights were gained into the appellant's mental health, indicating that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and not a combined personality disorder, as originally diagnosed.
The appellant requested revision of the judgment and the preparation of a new expert opinion on his capacity for guilt. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the revision application, whereupon the appellant filed a complaint with the Federal Court.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the lower court rightly dismissed the revision application. It found that the new insights into the appellant's mental health constitute a ground for revision, as they undermine the basis for assessing capacity for guilt and the sentence.
The court emphasized that the question of whether a new fact or new evidence is suitable to change the facts is a matter of fact. It found that the new insights…