Facts
On 20 August 2018, the public prosecutor's office of Zofingen-Kulm filed an indictment against A. for arson, repeated threats, repeated coercion, simple bodily harm, misappropriation of property, property damage, repeated insults, repeated abuse of a telecommunications installation, and repeated violations of traffic regulations.
On 14 February 2019, the District Court of Zofingen rendered a first judgment. On 19 September 2019, the Cantonal Court of Aargau annulled this judgment and referred the case back to the District Court for a new judgment.
On 3 March 2022, the District Court acquitted A. of certain charges, but convicted him of other offenses, to a custodial sentence of 22 months with probation, a monetary penalty of 150 daily penalty units at 110 francs, and a fine of 500 francs.
On 3 November 2022, the Cantonal Court partially upheld A.'s appeal, convicting him of abuse of a telecommunications installation instead of coercion, reducing the amount of the daily penalty unit, and increasing the fine. It also rejected the public prosecutor's request to increase the custodial sentence.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the prohibition of reformatio in pejus does not apply in the referral procedure in this case. Indeed, the Cantonal Court annulled the first judgment due to manifest defects, even before transmitting the declaration of appeal to the other parties and setting a deadline for the joint appeal. In this situation, the party rights of the public…