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Federal Constitutional Court Rejects Appeal in Assisted Suicide Manslaughter Case

By dismissing his constitutional complaint, the court cemented the neurologist’s three-year sentence for assisting the suicide of a patient deemed incapable of consenting.

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Nach der Hilfe beim Suizid eines psychisch kranken Patienten ist ein ehemaliger Arzt erfolglos vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht gegen seine Verurteilung wegen Totschlags vorgegangen. Das Landgericht Essen verhängte drei Jahre Haft.

Overview

  • Justices in Karlsruhe said the doctor failed to show any violation of his constitutional rights in the manslaughter conviction.
  • The Essen court ruled in February 2024 that he acted as an indirect perpetrator by administering a lethal infusion that the patient self-activated.
  • The Bundesgerichtshof upheld the three-year prison term in January after finding no procedural or legal errors in the lower court’s ruling.
  • Judges determined the patient’s acute paranoid schizophrenia prevented a free, autonomous decision on ending his life.
  • Since 2003 the doctor provided freelance capacity assessments for euthanasia associations and from 2020 conducted paid evaluations without a second medical opinion.