Moring case could reach court of appeal, legal expert says

Finland’s Northern Savonia District Court has acquitted Mika Moring of charges including the manslaughter of Saara Arva and aggravated deprivation of liberty, Yle reports. A criminal law expert says the case could now proceed to a court of appeal.

Tatu Hyttinen, an assistant professor of criminal law at the University of Turku, said the verdict was not surprising because a charge must be dismissed if reasonable doubt remains about the defendant’s guilt.

Hyttinen said the case involved several challenges concerning the evidence. One indication was the district court’s rare decision to conduct an on-site inspection at the location where Arva’s remains were found.

The court travelled to Vesanto in August. Prosecutor Antti Lampén wanted to demonstrate that it was unlikely Arva had reached the location on foot via a difficult forest route.

“In criminal cases, the threshold for evidence is high. In practice, this means that even a minor evidentiary uncertainty must be resolved in favour of the defendant,” Hyttinen said.

Earlier convictions cannot be used as evidence

Moring was sentenced to prison last year for rape, assault and deprivation of liberty. Police also suspect him of killing 28-year-old Katja Miinalainen, who disappeared in the Southwest Finland region in August 2022. The police pre-trial investigation into Miinalainen’s case is still under way.

Those matters did not affect the proceedings concerning the allegations involving Arva.

“A person’s previous criminal convictions are not an argument in court in support of an alleged offence,” Hyttinen said.

Arva had been missing for five years before her body was found. According to Hyttinen, the length of time made it more difficult to establish what had happened and how.

The district court’s three judges disagreed on the aggravated deprivation of liberty charge. One judge would have sentenced Moring to two years in prison for the offence, which concerned allegations that Arva had been forced to remain in Moring’s company.

Hyttinen said the two-to-one split could give the prosecutor a clear reason to appeal at least that part of the verdict.

“I would not be surprised if this ended up before the court of appeal,” he said.