On June 4, 2019, a husband in his 60s who died from hypoxia by completely pulling out and removing an artificial respirator inserted into his wife’s airway in the hospital intensive care unit was sentenced to 7 years in prison at an appeal. The couple promised not to use life-sustaining treatment. yunhap news
The prosecution sought 7 years in prison even at the appeal trial to a husband in his 60s who was sentenced to 5 years in prison at the National Participation Tribunal after being accused of taking off a ventilator of his wife who was hospitalized in the intensive care unit and killing him.
On the 10th, at the hearing of the Chuncheon Tribunal Division 1 (Director Park Jae-woo) of the Chuncheon Court of the Seoul High Court, the prosecution asked the court to pay 7 years of imprisonment as in the first trial.
Lee was handed over to trial on June 4, 2019, on charges of deliberately pulling out and removing a ventilator (artificial respirator) that was intubated into his wife’s (56) airway in an intensive care unit in a hospital in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, resulting in hypoxia.
The prosecution mentioned that ▶ the life-sustaining treatment period was only a week. ▶ It was possible to stop legal life-sustaining treatment.
In his final statement, Mr. Lee said, “I made it difficult to live with what I wanted to eat with my wife, and not to treat each other for life-sustaining.” I didn’t want to burden my children.”
Lee continued, “(After removing the respirator), when I was crying in the parking lot at the time, when I heard the news of my wife’s death from my son, I was hurting my heart.
Mr. Lee’s lawyer also requested a probation from the prison sentence, citing that he and his wife had the usual beliefs and that the children did not want punishment.
At the time of the first trial conducted by the national participation trial, Mr. Lee admitted that the crime was due to the fact that there was no possibility of reviving his wife, that she would not receive life-sustaining treatment, and hospital charges amounting to 200,000 to 300,000 won a day. At the time, he appealed for a probation from imprisonment in relation to sentencing.
However, all nine jury members who participated in the public participation trial decided that they were’guilty.
The first trial court, which respected the opinions of the jury, sentenced Mr. Lee to five years in prison and imprisoned him in court.
Lee, dissatisfied with this, appealed, saying, “My brother is unfair because he is heavy,” and the prosecution also appealed, saying, “Your brother is light.”
The sentence for Mr. Lee will be held on the 7th of next month.
Reporter Han Young-hye [email protected]
