傷害致死罪實體與程序交錯難題

Abstract

傷害致死案件，究竟行為人應不應該對與被害人的死亡負責，這本身是審判的難題，過往此類案件困擾著刑事法官，而今此類案件成為國民法官案件後，國民法官依然會遇到同樣的審判難題。 本文研究學說與實務關於傷害致死罪之因果關係與預見可能性之認定，並加以探討以我國法院七個關於傷害致死罪案例，可見在被害人本身有痼疾(如心臟疾病、中風癱瘓、肝硬化、癌症等)或是案發後跌倒等情形下，會傷害致死案件之因果關係及預見可能性更加難以認定。 在傷害致死案件中也可發現法院高度仰賴鑑定意見，且因法官、檢察官、被告及辯護人通常不具有醫療專業背景，法院常面臨找不出醫療爭點、數個鑑定意見中應採哪一個鑑定意見的審判難題。 修法後之刑事訴訟法鑑定新制使被告及辯護人可以藉由私選鑑定機構幫助個 案找到潛在的醫療爭點，並要求鑑定人原則上應到庭作證，本文認為上述修法方向有助於避免冤獄的形成。然而未來在傷害致死案件中，國民法官會如何運用鑑定制度發現真實，仍有待進一步的觀察。

In cases of offenses of injury resulting death, whether the accused should be responsible for the death of the victim, is a difficult problem. In the past, these cases are hard for judges to make the desicion. Now, citizen judge still encounter the same problem. This study analyzes the causation and foreseeability of damage based on theory and relevant judgments of the court, then analyzes seven cases of offenses of injury resulting death in Taiwan. It can be seen that when the victim himself is already sick (such as heart disease, stroke paralysis, liver cirrhosis, cancer, etc.), or the victim falls after the criminal case, the causation and foreseeability of damage will be harder to determine. In these cases of offenses of injury resulting death, because judge, prosecutor, the accused and defense attorney usually don’t have medical knowledge or background, the court highly relies on expert witness (agency) and examination report, and it’s difficult for judge to find the medical main issues of the case and determine which expert examination should be adopted in the trial. The new institution of the criminal expert examination allows the accused retain a hospital, school, or other suitable establishment or group to make an expert examination or to review the examination of another expert witness and expert witness need to explain it verbally in court. These changes can help judge, prosecutor, the accused and defense attorney to find the potential medical main issues, and avoid wrongful imprisonment.However, how citizen judge find the truth through expert witness and expert examination still remains to be seen in the future.