Voluntary desistance from attempted homicide

Justices: Endresen, Normann, Kallerud og Bergsjø, Sæbø

A woman who had been convicted of attempted homicide under section 275, cf. section 16 of the Penal Code, had on several occasions tricked her husband into eating mouse poison with the purpose of killing him. On the last occasion, she wanted it to look like a suicide. She called the emergency service (AMK) at night, when the man was unconscious, and said she thought he had taken poison. She was instructed to wake him up by pinching him so hard that he had bruises. In this manner, she managed to revive him, and he survived. The Supreme Court held that she was still intent on killing him when she called AMK, and that she understood she would be revealed if she did not follow their instructions. Thus, she had not voluntarily desisted from committing an offence under section 16 subsection 2 of the Penal Code, which could have released her from penalty for attempted homicide. The appeal against the Court of Appeal's application of the law was dismissed.  

Supreme Court HR-2019-47-A (case no. 18-127806STR-HRET), criminal case, appeal against judgment