A joke led to a neighbor's death, 60,000 yuan compensation highlights the principle of fairness
Compiled from: CCTV.com, Liaoning Legal Education, Guangming.com, Shandong High Court
Case review
Zhou and Gou (male), neighbors of the same age, met at the entrance of a convenience store near their residence on the morning of February 6, 2018.
While buying things at the shop, they started joking around, laughing continuously, and even shoving each other. During this, Gou Mou suddenly changed expression and then fell to the ground headfirst.
Seeing this, Zhou assumed that Gou was pretending and even told him to “stop pretending.” But Gou lay motionless on the ground. Only then did Zhou realize something was terribly wrong. He crouched down to take a closer look and saw that Gou’s face had turned purple and his breathing was extremely faint.
At that moment, frightened Zhou Moumou did not call for help but fled back home. Later, the shop owner quickly called Gou Mou's family, but it was too late.
Police: Suspected of negligent homicide.
After the family learned that Gou Mou had been joking and playing with Zhou Moumou before his death, they confronted Zhou Moumou. Seeing his tough attitude, the family called the police.
After the police arrived at the scene immediately, with the family's consent, an autopsy was conducted. Half a month later, the autopsy results showed that Gou died from circulatory and respiratory failure due to coronary heart disease. Based on the investigation of the case, the Zunyi County police arrested Zhou on suspicion of negligent homicide.
The police believed that as a neighbor, Zhou should have known that Gou suffered from coronary heart disease. Knowing this, Zhou still engaged in pushing and teasing with him, leading to his illness onset and death. Moreover, when Gou fell ill and collapsed, Zhou fled, showing a suspicion of failing to rescue. Besides bearing civil compensation liability, Zhou should also bear criminal responsibility.
Court: No criminal liability pursued
However, the police encountered a "bottleneck" when applying to the Zunyi County Court for Zhou's arrest. The Zunyi County Court, upon review, held that although Zhou and Gou were neighbors, Zhou was unaware that Gou suffered from coronary heart disease and did not know the severity of the condition. Zhou's horseplay and shoving were insufficient to cause Gou's death, and the probability that the joking stimulus alone triggered Gou's death was only 5%-10%.
Therefore, the prosecution held that Zhou's conduct was insufficient to constitute a crime and decided not to pursue criminal liability, leaving Zhou liable only for civil compensation. As the deceased's family was reluctant to litigate, after multiple rounds of mediation by both the public security and procuratorial authorities, an agreement was finally reached under which Zhou would pay the deceased's family 60,000 yuan in compensation.
[1] The author's perspective
In this case, Zhou did not have the subjective intent to harm Gou when joking and pushing him, and Gou's sudden onset of coronary heart disease during the joke was beyond Zhou's expectation. Therefore, the court also determined that Zhou's behavior did not constitute a crime and did not pursue criminal liability. The author believes this is correct and appropriate.
However, it cannot be denied that when Gou was in critical condition and on the verge of death, Zhou did not offer any assistance but instead fled the scene. This is not only disappointing but also highly immoral. Although the final results showed that the joke was only a 5%-10% contributing factor to Gou's death, it still demonstrates that there is a certain connection between Gou's death and Zhou. Considering both points, if Zhou had not made the joke, or if he had taken certain rescue actions, perhaps Gou would not have suffered a fatal onset. Therefore, the author believes that holding Zhou civilly liable for compensation for his actions is also consistent with the principle of fairness.
