Knife wound to back: woman from Liezen district sentenced to four years imprisonment
A woman from the Liezen district stabbed her live-in partner and was sentenced at the Leoben regional court. The jury decided against attempted murder.
Verdict in Leoben: Four years imprisonment for knife wound to the back
Six to two: with this majority vote, jurors at the Leoben regional court on Monday decided that a woman from the Liezen district is not guilty of attempted murder – but is guilty of intentional serious bodily harm. Judge Roman Weiß thereupon imposed a prison sentence of four years; up to ten would have been possible. Additionally, admission to a forensic therapeutic centre was ordered.
According to the Kleine Zeitung, the woman, who was in her early 20s, is said to have stabbed her then live-in partner with a knife in May this year. According to the public prosecutor, the stabbing was preceded by a relationship dispute that had lasted throughout the entire day – at one point also via Snapchat, after the partner had temporarily left the flat. When he returned heavily intoxicated, the situation escalated.
"Only once, but forcefully" – this is how the public prosecutor described the stab wound to the victim's lower back. The forensic medical report confirmed that the wound was seven to eight centimetres deep and potentially life-threatening; the liver and kidney were each missed by only one centimetre.
The defence counsel disputed that her client had any intention to kill. She had only wanted to injure the partner and had been physically attacked immediately beforehand. "He punched and kicked me in the stomach," the defendant said when questioned by Judge Weiß. When asked whether she had stabbed deliberately, she answered: "No, I just stabbed, acting on impulse."
The defendant also stated that before the act, a voice had ordered her to attack her live-in partner. The two attending psychiatric experts considered this perception possible given her years-long consumption of various drugs. They also attested that the woman had a personality disorder. However, the experts could not establish psychosis or schizophrenia – possible grounds for diminished responsibility – although the defendant had provided "far above average values" on the corresponding tests, there was reasonable suspicion that she was at least exaggerating, if not feigning.
Due to the attested serious mental disorder, the public prosecutor had requested admission to a closed psychiatric hospital. After around one hour of deliberation, the jurors did not follow the request for attempted murder – the verdict is for intentional serious bodily harm, combined with admission to a forensic therapeutic centre.
Source: Kleine Zeitung