crime
Court overturns judgment against Jérôme Boateng
In the second instance, the Munich I regional court sentenced Boateng, now 35, to a fine of 120 daily rates of 10,000 euros each for attacks on his ex-girlfriend during a Caribbean vacation – a total of 1.2 million euros. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
The trial against soccer world champion Jérôme Boateng for violent attacks on his ex-girlfriend is developing into a never-ending story. Now the third court ruled.
The Bavarian Supreme Court has condemned Jérôme Boateng overturned for assault and insult. It upheld the appeal by the ex-national soccer player and also that of the public prosecutor and co-plaintiff on Thursday and referred the proceedings back to the Munich I Regional Court. The process must be restarted there.
Boateng’s lawyer Leonard Walischewski had previously called for the verdict from last October to be overturned. “The process was shockingly unfair,” he said. “The defendant Boateng was already finally convicted before the appeal process even began.”
At that time, Boateng, now 35 years old, was sentenced in the second instance to a fine of 120 daily rates of 10,000 euros each for assaulting his ex-girlfriend on a Caribbean vacation – a total of 1.2 million euros.
Lawyer criticizes judge
Boateng’s right to a fair trial was violated at the time, criticized Walischewski. “The presiding judge was not neutral, he was not distant,” said the lawyer.
Above all, he criticized the fact that the judge himself was involved in rejecting an application for bias against himself. The court on Thursday also saw this as a decisive reason to overturn the verdict “in its entirety”.
At the time, before the application for bias, the chairman emphasized that further evidence submitted by Boateng and his defense lawyers could have a negative impact on a punishment. Boateng’s lawyer accused the judge of “unprocedural and arbitrary behavior” in his plea on Thursday. “The chairman didn’t want to clarify.”
Prosecution demanded harsher punishment
The public prosecutor’s office and the co-prosecution also appealed against the verdict because they had demanded a conviction for grievous bodily harm and thus a harsher punishment. The Bavarian Supreme Court also upheld their appeal.
The court’s decision makes an already extremely lengthy legal dispute even longer. The Munich district court had already imposed a higher fine on Boateng in 2021, but the number of daily rates was only half as high – 60 daily rates of 30,000 euros each, a total of 1.8 million euros. Those convicted of more than 90 daily rates are considered to have a criminal record.
Boateng, who played for the German national team and FC Bayern Munich for a long time, was farewelled by his most recent club, the French first division football club Olympique Lyon, in June and is currently without a club.