Facts
The appellant, [A.] , was acquitted by the District Court of Dietikon on December 21, 2017, of the charges of qualified sexual coercion, multiple simple bodily harm, multiple acts of violence, multiple property damage, multiple insults, multiple threats, and multiple coercion. At the same time, he was released from precautionary detention. However, the Public Prosecutor's Office IV of the Canton of Zurich appealed the judgment and requested the continuation of precautionary detention. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich, 2nd Criminal Chamber, extended the precautionary detention for the duration of the appeal proceedings. The appellant filed a request for release from detention on February 14, 2018, which was rejected by the High Court of the Canton of Zurich, 1st Criminal Chamber, by presidential decree of March 6, 2018.
The appellant appealed to the Federal Court with a complaint of April 3, 2018, and requested the repeal of the contested decision and his immediate release, alternatively under the provision of alternative measures to detention. The Public Prosecutor's Office requested the dismissal of the complaint.
Considerations
The Federal Court freely reviewed the interpretation and application of the CrimPC, as it was a complaint regarding pretrial detention. It found that the urgent suspicion of a crime no longer existed, as the Public Prosecutor's Office had not plausibly demonstrated how convictions with a high probability of success could be expected in the appeal proceedings.
The Federal Court pointed out that the lower court had found that certain incriminating statements by the private plaintiff appeared contradictory and that the Public Prosecutor's Office had not demonstrated how these contradictions did not call into question the credibility of the private plaintiff. The Federal Court found that the Public Prosecutor's Office had made appellate submissions regarding the evaluation of evidence, which, however, could…