“No Predictability of Death…Only Assault Charge Recognized”
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Do-heun – The Supreme Court has ruled that if a person dies from acute myocardial infarction after a physical altercation with a stranger, it cannot be considered as manslaughter resulting from assault.
According to the legal community on the 12th, the Supreme Court’s first division (presiding judge Noh Tae-ak) upheld the lower court’s decision, which convicted A of only assault and sentenced him to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation, in a case where A was charged with manslaughter resulting from assault last month.
In July 2023, A was driving a truck on the highway when he got into an altercation with B, which escalated into a physical fight where A punched B in the face.
After the fight, B walked onto the road, lost consciousness, and collapsed, eventually being transported to the emergency room in a state of cardiac arrest, before dying of acute myocardial infarction during treatment.
Prosecutors charged A with manslaughter resulting from assault, arguing that A’s assault led to B’s death.
The main issue was whether A could have foreseen B’s death.
Manslaughter from assault is a contingent offense that occurs when someone dies from an assault without intent to kill, requiring a causal relationship between the assault and the death, and an ability to foresee the death.
The first trial acquitted A of manslaughter, recognizing only the assault charge.
The autopsy of B revealed severe coronary artery disease, and the court found that “the defendant met the victim for the first time on the day of the incident and could not have known about the victim’s heart condition.”
Furthermore, the court declared, “While the severity of the assault cannot be considered minor, it is difficult to conclude that it was severe enough to typically result in death.”
The appellate court also found it hard to believe that A could have foreseen B’s death.
The prosecution appealed, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, stating, “There is no error in the lower court’s interpretation of the legal principles regarding the foreseeability of death in the manslaughter from assault conviction.”