Facts
On December 22, 2010, [D.A.] crossed the Bahnhofstrasse in Dottikon (AG) on a pedestrian crossing. He was first hit by a vehicle and then by [X.] with his passenger car. [D.A.] suffered fatal injuries as a result.
The District Court of Bremgarten initially acquitted [X.] of the charge of negligent homicide. The High Court of the Canton of Aargau then convicted [X.] of negligent homicide and sentenced him to a suspended fine and payments for damages and satisfaction. [X.] appealed against this judgment.
The Federal Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the High Court and remanded the case for a new assessment to the lower court. In the new assessment, the High Court again convicted [X.] of negligent homicide. Against this judgment, [X.] again appealed in criminal matters.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court found that the lower court had acted arbitrarily in its assessment of the evidence regarding the recognizability of the victim for the appellant from a distance of around 30 meters and had violated the principle of "in dubio pro reo". The lower court assumed that the appellant should have recognized the victim as soon as he entered the pedestrian crossing, although the visibility conditions were very poor due to darkness, fog and the victim's dark clothing.
Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court stated that the appellant could not be accused of a breach of the duty of…