from typing import List
import re


def _assert_exists(split_text: List[str]) -> bool:
    """Checks whether an `assert` statement exists in the given `split_text` 
    Examples
    --------
    >>> _assert_exists(['print()', 'assert True'])
    True
    >>> _assert_exists(['print()'])
    False
    """
    assert_found = False
    for line in split_text:
        if re.match(r"^assert", line):
            assert_found = True
            break
    return assert_found