Facts
The case concerns a father, [X.] , who on February 13, 2009 or February 14/15, 2009 abused his less than three-week-old daughter [A.Y.] in their shared family home. He grabbed the infant with both hands around the chest and squeezed so hard that ribs were broken on both sides. He then sat down on the sofa with [A.Y.] and grabbed her by the back of the neck and strangled her until she turned blue in the face and could no longer breathe. He also pulled, hit, pushed and shook the child, causing her further injuries. Probably one to two days later, [X.] broke both of his daughter's upper arm bones during another violent outburst.
The District Court of Bülach convicted [X.] of attempted murder and multiple counts of aggravated simple assault and sentenced him to 8 years' imprisonment. The Prosecutor's Office and [X.] appealed. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich found [X.] guilty of attempted homicide and multiple counts of aggravated simple assault and sentenced him to 11 years' imprisonment.
The Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal in criminal matters with the Federal Supreme Court against this judgment. It requested that [X.] be convicted of attempted murder and that the case be remanded to the lower court for re-sentencing.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court granted the appeal. It stated that [X.] 's actions should be classified as particularly callous within the meaning of Art. 112 StGB (murder). Although [X.] had acted with only conditional intent, i.e., he had not pursued the death of his daughter as a goal but merely accepted it, murder can also occur with conditional intent if the motives and purpose of the act are particularly reprehensible.
According to the findings of the lower court, [X.] had vented his anger and frustration with the child's mother on the completely innocent [A.Y.] , who had…