Mixed Psychiatric Drugs Including Zolpidem
Acute Intoxication Induced
Victim Died in Hospital the Following Day
The conviction of a man in his 30s, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for forcing a fellow inmate in the same prison to take psychiatric pills, causing his death, has been finalized.
According to the legal community on February 6, the Second Division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Eom Sang-pil) upheld the lower court's sentence of seven years in prison for Mr. A (33), who was indicted on charges of bodily injury resulting in death, assault, and violation of the Narcotics Control Act (psychotropic substances).
Mr. A was accused of causing the death of fellow inmate Mr. B at Hwaseong Vocational Training Prison in January 2024 by forcing him on two occasions to take psychiatric medications such as lorazepam and zolpidem, which Mr. A had been prescribed and was secretly keeping. Mr. B lost consciousness and was transferred to a nearby hospital the following day, but died from acute drug intoxication. Mr. A was also charged with repeatedly assaulting Mr. B on the grounds that Mr. B was not maintaining the correct posture for abdominal exercises, and with assaulting him by pressing his knee into Mr. B's abdomen while he was asleep.
The courts of first and second instance sentenced Mr. A to seven years in prison.
The Supreme Court reached the same conclusion. The Supreme Court stated, "The lower court did not misunderstand the legal principles concerning the establishment of the offenses of bodily injury resulting in death and violation of the Narcotics Control Act, nor did it err by omitting any necessary determinations."
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