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 Moumou and his neighbor Gou Mou (male), who was the same age, met at the entrance of a small shop 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 Moumou thought Gou Mou was pretending and told him "don't fake it," but Gou Mou lay motionless on the ground. Only then did Zhou realize something was wrong. He crouched down to look and saw that Gou Mou's face was purple and his breath was 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, when the police applied to the Zunyi County Court for Zhou's arrest, they encountered a setback. The Zunyi County Court reviewed and determined that although Zhou and Gou were neighbors, Zhou did not know that Gou had coronary heart disease, nor was he aware of the severity of the condition. Zhou's teasing and pushing behavior was insufficient to cause Gou's death, and the trigger of Gou's death from the joke-induced stimulation was only 5%-10%.
Therefore, the prosecution believed that Zhou's behavior did not constitute a crime and decided not to pursue criminal liability. Zhou would only bear civil compensation liability for this. Given that the deceased's family did not want to go to court, after multiple mediations by the public security and prosecution authorities, an agreement was reached for Zhou to compensate the deceased's family 60,000 yuan.
[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 is undeniable that when Gou was critically ill and on the verge of death, Zhou did not provide assistance but instead fled. This is not only disappointing but also highly unethical. Although the final result shows that the joke only contributed to 5%-10% of the cause of Gou's death, it also indicates that there is a certain correlation between Zhou's actions and Gou's death. Combining these two points, if Zhou had not made the joke or had taken some rescue measures, perhaps Gou would not have fallen ill and died. Therefore, the author believes that it is in line with the principle of fairness for Zhou to bear civil compensation for his actions.
