The judge is 72 years old and fit enough to do a murder trial in forty minutes. In the end it turns out that the accused doctor, who is said to have suffocated his patient with a pillow, was not the perpetrator at all. But one of the witnesses. He killed the woman because she rejected him. The judge gets him to confess while still on the witness stand.
It all sounds too perfect to be true, and it is. Because the judge’s name is Barbara Salesch and she negotiates with RTL. Again, it must be said. For the past ten years, the veteran television judge has been studying art and tending to her garden. Until the broadcaster recently took her out of retirement.
Salesch counters the accusations: “Children, what’s the point? Television never depicts everyday life.”
Now Salesch is back on afternoon television and with her a deeply German phenomenon: the court show. As early as the 1970s and 1980s, there were series on ZDF such as “The Traffic Court” or “Marriage in Court”. The court show is also one of the most criticized television formats. Studies have found that people who watch courtroom shows get the wrong idea about crime. The catchphrase “lower class television” came up. Above all, however, Barbara Salesch heard one accusation, as she said in an interview: everyday court life was portrayed unrealistically. Then she always says: “Children, what’s the point? Television never depicts everyday life.”
And it’s actually not true. If you look at Barbara Salesch today, you get the impression that she has never been away. The scripts are still wooden, the actresses amateurish. But it’s also striking how many elements of the criminal process are right where they belong. Salesch points out to the witnesses their duty to tell the truth or instructs them that they do not have to incriminate themselves. She explains what the difference between murder and manslaughter is, namely the presence of murder characteristics, among other things. She ordered expert opinions and had mobile phones evaluated. And when the prosecutor and the defense attorney tear at each other, that’s also very realistic.
Above all, however, one has to do with a deeply optimistic view of society. It is true that crime is at stake, and people often act out of base motives. But in every court show, the truth comes out in the end. Because, as in the episode with the accused doctor, someone is found who has observed the real perpetrator and reports this in an act of civil courage. Because the courts work properly and get to the bottom of things. If that’s what people associate with the judiciary, that wouldn’t be so bad.