Man who killed surgeon with one punch jailed for 10 years
A man who hit and killed a surgeon at Box Hill Hospital is the first person to receive a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence under Victoria's one-punch laws.
Joseph Esmaili, 24, smiled and nodded to members of the public gallery at the Supreme Court on Wednesday as he was led away to begin serving his jail term. He was found guilty of manslaughter over the death of Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann in 2017.
Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said prosecutors had satisfied the four key elements of the law that was introduced in 2014: that his punch was deliberate, to the head, that Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann wouldn't have expected it was coming, and that Esmaili probably knew the surgeon wouldn't have been expecting a punch.
Justice Hollingworth imposed a total sentence of 10 years and six months on Esmaili and said that he had shown very little remorse for his act.
Esmaili’s lawyers argued during the trial that he had thrown the punch in self-defence after an argument with Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann in the foyer area of the hospital.
"While I do accept that you have some regrets you still have some way to go to accept full responsibility," Justice Hollingworth said.
Esmaili killed the surgeon after he approached the young man and his friends and told them not to smoke in a designated non-smoking area outside the hospital.
Before the surprise attack, the court heard that the pair had exchanged heated words and Esmaili had placed his arms behind his back in a non-threatening way.
Justice Hollingworth said this contributed to satisfying the requirement under the mandatory sentencing laws that Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann was not anticipating violence.
"You were well aware that he was probably not anticipating the punch," Justice Hollingworth said.
Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann was unconscious as soon as he was hit and did not try to break his fall as his head cracked on the ground.
He suffered a catastrophic brain injury and was put in an induced coma for four weeks before his family made the gut-wrenching decision to turn off his life support.