The woman had been found guilty of intentionally endangering people through communicable diseases – but other parts of the verdict were overturned. Wednesday’s hearing was adjourned.
Corona quarantine ignored
The then 53-year-old Carinthian woman was sentenced to three months of conditional imprisonment last summer. It was found that she had ignored her corona quarantine in December 2021, left her apartment and talked to people without a mask. The woman was acquitted of the charge of grossly negligent homicide because she was said to have infected her seriously ill neighbor and he died.
In addition to witness statements, the prosecution relied on two reports. Forensics determined that the cancer patient died of pneumonia caused by Covid. A virological report found a match in the viral DNA from the PCR samples of the defendant and the person who later died.
“Chains of infection not sufficiently discussed”
While the guilty verdict for intentional endangerment became final, other parts of the verdict were overturned by the Graz Higher Regional Court. These revolved around the accusation of grossly negligent homicide: the chains of infection had not been sufficiently discussed, the second instance found.
Specifically, the court now has the task of shedding light on two possible contacts between the defendant and her neighbor in order to clarify the matter. They are said to have occurred on December 15th and 21st, 2021. It is completely unclear whether such contact took place “in the door, in the apartment, in the doorway or wherever,” said the woman’s defense attorney, who called for an acquittal based on the remaining facts.
The hearing was postponed
On December 15, 2021, the defendant had a fever of almost 40 degrees. The fact that she had Corona was never an issue for her, she said when asked by judge Sabine Götz: “It was clear to me that this was bronchitis, like the one I have every year in winter.” When she had contact with her neighbor that day, she only looked out the door briefly, the defendant said; she was then at least three meters away from him.
Six days later, the Carinthian woman said she hadn’t met her neighbor at all – even though Götz gave her some witness statements to the contrary. In order to clarify these questions, witnesses will now be questioned once more; the hearing has been postponed. A new trial date has not yet been set.
