Facts
The appellant X. was acquitted by the Criminal Court of the Seebezirk of the Canton of Fribourg on some of the charges, but found guilty on one point. The Criminal Court imposed the procedural costs equally on X. and the State of Fribourg. X. then filed a request for compensation for legal fees and loss of earnings due to the destruction of his hemp harvest. The Criminal Appeals Court of the Cantonal Court of Fribourg rejected the request in its entirety.
X. filed a criminal law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court. He requested that the refusal to grant compensation for legal fees be overturned and that the claimed amounts be awarded to him.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the appeal. It stated that the lower court had wrongly refused to grant compensation for legal fees. On the one hand, the appellant could not be accused of any unlawful or culpable conduct within the meaning of Art. 430 para. 1 lit. a CrimPC that would have caused the initiation or impeded the conduct of the criminal proceedings. On the other hand, the cost decision of the first instance, which imposed half of the…