Baden-Württemberg
Fine and acquittal after fatal police operation
Commemoration on May 3, 2002 after the fatal police operation in Mannheim. photo
© René Priebe/PR video/dpa
A mentally ill man dies when two officers are deployed in Mannheim. A court in Mannheim has now made a decision in the proceedings: the deployment was fundamentally justified.
The fatal police operation in May 2022 The district court was convinced that Mannheim was essentially justified. The chamber acquitted an accused police officer in Mannheim on Friday, and his colleague was sentenced to a fine totaling 6,000 euros.
The presiding judge said that the mentally ill victim would not have died without the violent use of the two officers on the Mannheim market square. Due to the circumstances, both police officers were not only entitled but also obliged to bring the 47-year-old man with a heart condition back to the Central Institute for Mental Health, even against his will. They were also right to defend themselves against attacks from the later victim. The man later died in hospital.
The 27-year-old police superintendent has to pay the 120 daily rates of 50 euros for assault in office because he hit the man lying on the ground four times with his fist. The officer was actually charged with bodily harm in office resulting in death, the police chief of the same age was charged with negligent homicide by omission.
The public prosecutor’s office made a surprisingly lenient plea, especially with reference to the forensic medical reports. She demanded a suspended prison sentence of six months for the police chief and an acquittal for the co-defendant. The defense had requested acquittals. With the verdict, both police officers can remain on duty.
The mentally ill victim suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had recurring delusions and hallucinated. The man’s doctor had asked the police for help before the operation. The doctor was afraid that his patient was endangering himself.