The defendant mixed castor oil in bottles of wine that were often stolen by an alcoholic. The man ended up dying, but the court did not rule that causality was proven.
The Coimbra Court of Appeal confirmed the acquittal of a leader of a community in Figueira da Foz accused of having indirectly caused the death of a local resident after mix castor oil in three liters of wine. The decision maintains the first instance sentence, which failed to establish a direct relationship between the ingestion of the substance and the death of Carlos Acúrcio, aged 54.
According to the ruling, the defendant had the clear intention of causing the predictable effect of castor oil on diarrhea as a way of “teaching a lesson” to Acúrcio, who was an alcoholic and had a habit of stealing bottles of wine from neighboring houses and from the Netos e Queridas Residents Association itself, of which the leader was a member.
The defendant left a bottle of the mixture on the association’s counter after another theft by the man, with the aim of relieving him of gastrointestinal discomfort. dissuaded from continuing to stealexplains .
On the night of April 6 to 7, 2020, Acúrcio stole the bottle again and consumed the contents. The next day, felt bad and ended up dying. Despite the circumstances, the judges at the Coimbra Court considered that there was not enough evidence to state that the victim’s death was caused by ingesting castor oil mixed in wine.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed the decision, arguing that the director should answer for a crime of offense to qualified physical integrity aggravated by fatal outcome. However, the Court of Appeal judges rejected the arguments presented, maintaining the defendant’s acquittal.
The defense lawyer, Vítor Gaspar, stated that the result was already expected: “It could not be any different depending on the first instance decision”. The court emphasizes that, although the defendant’s intention was to cause a physical effect, the causal link between his action and the victim’s death was not proven, which makes it impossible to convict him of the aggravated crime he was accused of.
