Police officers and firefighters who were put on trial on charges of causing the death of a heavily intoxicated woman by putting a towel in her mouth while stopping her from biting her tongue to self-harm were acquitted in a citizen participation trial.
On the 3rd, the Changwon District Court Criminal Division 4 (presiding judge O Dae-seok, Director General judge) acquitted two police officers and two firefighters, all indicted on charges of occupationally negligent homicide.
At about 2:08 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2022, the two police officers arrested A, a 41-year-old woman who was heavily intoxicated, on a street in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, on charges of obstruction of the performance of official duties.
Earlier the same day, at about 1:58 a.m., police were dispatched after a report that A was lying on the street and asked her to go home, but A did not comply and hit two police officers, it was found.
With handcuffs on, A strongly resisted and demanded that the handcuffs be removed. When the demand was not accepted, A said, "Then I guess I have to bite my tongue and die," and was found to have actually attempted self-harm by biting her tongue.
To stop A from self-harming, the police officers pushed a towel into her mouth several times. After A died, the two officers were brought to trial on charges of failing to fulfill their duty of care on the job.
Two firefighters, who were 119 paramedics dispatched to the scene, were also indicted on charges of failing to take appropriate measures, including not immediately removing the towel from A's mouth.
It was found that the firefighters removed the towel from inside A's mouth and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency measures from the point they estimated she had gone into cardiac arrest.
A was then taken to a hospital and treated but died of asphyxiation due to airway obstruction on Sept. 17, 2022.
All seven jurors in the citizen participation trial unanimously returned a not-guilty opinion for both the police officers and the firefighters.
The court said, "It appears the police officers, while subduing a victim who was violently resisting at the time, chose to put a towel in the victim's mouth as a means to quickly and effectively stop a sudden act of self-harm."
It continued, "The firefighters, while checking A's pulse, appear to have made their own efforts to find an alternative object that could be placed in the mouth instead of the towel, and it is difficult to conclude they violated their duty of care," adding, "It was likely difficult to immediately respond on scene and remove the towel, which is the general opinion of medical experts."
The court added the reason for acquittal: "Based on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor alone, it cannot be recognized that the defendants foresaw the risk of death by asphyxiation and failed to take necessary measures to prevent it."