The Open Beatz Festival enjoys an excellent reputation, friends of electronic music come from far away to a pond near Herzogenaurach. In July 2019 there were performances by Alan Walker, Will Sparks and Dr. Moth on the program. How popular the music festival was ten years after it was founded can perhaps be traced back to a 31-year-old man who made his way from Colombia to the Erlangen-Höchstadt district in the summer two years ago, to be there in the open air To listen to music.
Together with his partner, he entered the gondola of a Ferris wheel that was set up on the festival site on July 20, 2019, a Saturday, at around 6:08 p.m. A little later he fell from a height of 25 meters and died six hours later from his injuries.
The charge is negligent homicide
Shortly after the incident, the investigators assumed a tragic accident. But now a man, a showman, has to answer for negligent homicide at the Erlangen district court. Like three other men, he is said to be responsible for the Colombian falling to his death in front of his partner after he apparently leaned against the door of a Ferris wheel gondola – the locking bolt of which was not properly installed.
The public prosecutor’s office accused four people: the operator of the Ferris wheel and one of his employees, both from France, both of whom, however, are beyond the reach of the investigative authorities; the showman from Rhineland-Palatinate, who appeared before the jury on Wednesday; and an employee of the Tüv, against whom a protracted circumstantial trial was initially to be feared, but who managed to confess at the beginning of the trial three weeks ago and was sentenced to a prison term of twelve months on probation for negligent homicide. This judgment is already final.
Because the defendants’ testimony is very different, the two proceedings have been separated from each other. His defense attorney announced that the 63-year-old showman – anorak, gray hair, reading glasses – would probably be expected to get involved in the course of the trial. For the time being, however, he is silent. The Tüv man was completely different: at the beginning of the process, he admitted a serious personal mistake – and behavior that he could no longer explain to himself.
“Professional honor trampled underfoot”
As accused by the public prosecutor, he actually attested that the Ferris wheel was free of defects, even though it was not yet fully assembled. For example, the gondolas were not installed, but the Tüv man took the Ferris wheel off as technically flawless. He was so sorry for all of this, he said. The judge attested to having “trampled on his professional honor” – and the reliability for which the Tüv stood for “grossly disappointed”. He has no previous conviction, and the confession is counted in his favor. He leaves the courtroom on suspended sentence.
The procedure against the showman becomes much more complex, the court and defense argue on Wednesday about the numerous hearing dates. The public prosecutor blames the showman for having known that the Tüv man had not properly checked the system. According to the indictment, the showman was asked by the festival organizers to set up a ferris wheel. Because he did not have one himself, he is said to have commissioned an operator from France to do it. In the end, a Ferris wheel is said to have gone into operation in Franconia, for which neither an execution permit nor the necessary test book was available. According to the indictment, after the showman became aware of this, he commissioned the Tüv man with the inspection of the ferris wheel. A verdict is expected in February.