At least the sound quality was excellent – the rest of the recording, which could now be heard at the Ebersberg District Court, rather less: A longer tirade, peppered with a few swear words, of which “Grattler” or “Liars and Cheats” were the more harmless. Because the person who was approached in this way had recorded this, a 58-year-old found himself in the dock a good one and a half years later.
This was also due to the fact that in addition to the swear words, the sentence was also said: “Wait until Ivan comes – then you just twitch.” This clearly posed a threat to the public prosecutor. In addition, the defendant’s counterparty had testified to the police that the 58-year-old had thrown a water bottle in addition to making crude slogans. Although only a small one and made of plastic, which also had not hit anyone, the charge was attempted dangerous bodily harm.
Last but not least, the accused is said to have harassed the other person on the road the day after he had approached the other person in his garage. To do this, he drove his car in the oncoming lane towards his opponent’s truck and forced it to slow down, and the accused only turned off shortly before the collision would have occurred.
A witness gets involved in contradictions and is warned by the chairperson
This statement was confirmed by the victim’s son, who had been in the truck on the day in question. However, when asked by judge Vera Hörauf, the young man contradicted himself. He said in court that he recognized an elderly man with gray hair as the driver of the oncoming car. The chairman then held up his statement to the police that he had not recognized the driver. “I think you’re lying to me right now.” Confronted with the consequences of false testimony, the witness backtracked. It is true that he only recognized the vehicle – a rather rare older model – but not the occupants, he was just nervous, he explained his previous statement.
In any case, neither father nor son could name the exact day of the incident in court. The defendant in turn presented his own witness who was supposed to confirm that the two had been working on a car at the time in question. However, the witness could only remember the time and that the repairs had taken a very long time. As for the day, he was no longer sure, but the date on which, according to the indictment, the incident on the street is said to have taken place is on the bill.
A few years ago there was a similar process with swapped places
The incident in the workshop of the injured party was somewhat clearer, as evidenced by the rude radio play. His client of course concedes this, according to the defense attorney, but the question remains whether the recording can be used at all, since it was made without the knowledge of the accused. The injured party contradicted this, saying that when the accused showed up in his workshop, snorting, after the first insults he clearly said to him that he had had enough and that he would now record everything.
As far as the alleged bottle throwing is concerned, the injured party invented it to take revenge, according to the lawyer. Because the thing has a history that also has to do with a thrown object. Until a few years ago, the two car mechanics did business, the accused sold the injured party spare parts. However, the latter had a bad payment record, which is why the two men had a dispute. A metal coil was thrown at the defendant, which hit his car. The opponent has already been sentenced for this and had to pay damages. But he also did not pay for a long time, the defender continued. That is why the accused appeared in the workshop of his former business partner. And in this context, the statement with the “Iwan” should also be taken to mean that a debt collector would be hired.
What did not convince the prosecutor, especially the afterthought “then you just twitch” is already a serious threat. The insult has been proven anyway and she also sees the bottle throwing as proven, just like the coercion in traffic. The alleged alibi was confirmed by a witness who was apparently a friend of the accused.
The accused has 13 previous convictions, including insult and assault
The background – “both toss reports back and forth and keep the judiciary busy” – could be in favor of the accused, and there were certainly provocations on the part of the injured party. At the expense of the accused, however, his numerous previous convictions are to be considered, he has been convicted a total of 13 times, in addition to various property crimes and negligent homicide, there are also some cases of insult and bodily harm as well as traffic offenses again and again. The prosecutor therefore applied for a suspended prison sentence of nine months and three months’ driver’s license suspension.
In addition to the insult and the threat, the chairperson also saw the bottle throw as proven. The statement of the injured party is credible, he has described that the accused missed him. “If he had wanted to invent something, he would have said something else.” On the other hand, as far as the accused’s alleged wrong-way trip is concerned, Hörauf did not see it as proven. None of the witnesses could remember a date, and no one recognized the driver or the license plate when asked.
The accused was finally sentenced to a fine of 120 daily rates of 25 euros each. Although the list of previous convictions is long, the last one was seven years ago. The previous history should also be evaluated in favor of the accused. The verdict is not yet legally binding. A continuation of the long-term dispute in court does not seem to be pending: The injured party has now moved to another location outside the district with his workshop.