“Now we have to steadiness all of the proof introduced to us.”
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She stated that Brückner’s case was impacted by hypothesis within the press.
“Everybody had heard about him within the Maddie McCann case. And so they all knew that Brückner since 2020 was at all times named by the general public prosecution workplace.”
“When within the media, an individual is right here described as a intercourse monster and a pervert, then it influences the witness.”
The trial was a fiercely contested battleground. The courtroom noticed indignant verbal skirmishes over 35 days of proceedings between prosecutors and the defence, led by Friedrich Fülscher, together with shouted interruptions by Ms Engemann.
Final week, Ute Lindemann, the chief public prosecutor, demanded a complete of 15 years in jail for Brückner, and for him to be positioned underneath preventive detention, whereby prisoners deemed to pose a hazard to society are usually not launched even when they’ve served their sentence.
Mr Fülscher, Brückner’s defence lawyer, tried to dismantle the prosecution’s case in his terse closing plea on Monday, and confirmed solidarity with the decide, whom the prosecution accused of bias in favour of Brückner.
He stated: “Final week, you attacked the skilled decide, my colleagues and myself, polemically and personally for lengthy bouts.
“You made it filter from the outset that your closing assertion was addressed to the general public and to not the chamber.”
“You have been significantly involved with maximising harm to skilled judges. Nearly with out exception, your criticism was unjustified and of a hardly ever low degree. My colleagues and I cannot stoop to this degree immediately, somewhat dedicate ourselves to the precise function of those proceedings.”
Decide attracts gender controversy
Ms Engemann, who was born within the federal state of Decrease Saxony throughout the Sixties, studied regulation on the College of Göttingen earlier than beginning her first judicial position at Brunswick regional courtroom in 1993.
Her profession took a controversial flip between 2005 and 2010 due to her affiliation with Vaternotruf, a fathers’ rights organisation based mostly in Berlin.
Vaternotruf was recognized for its outspoken advocacy of fathers concerned in custodial disputes, usually criticising what it perceived as systemic biases towards males inside household courts.
Ms Engemann drew fierce criticism from feminist organisations and authorized professionals, who raised profound considerations about potential conflicts of curiosity.
She then formally distanced herself from the Vaternotruf organisation, however the difficulty has continued to boost questions on her neutrality.
By 2015, her profession focus shifted to felony instances, and she or he presided over a violent crime trial in Brunswick in 2017.
Brückner’s case went to trial early this yr, with Ms Engemann triggering controversy by ruling in July that the proof towards him was so “inadequate” that the arrest warrant can be lifted.
It provoked specific concern that she made this announcement earlier than the prosecution had completed giving its proof.
In consequence, the prosecution moved to have Ms Engemann eliminated on the idea that she was allegedly biased.
A prosecution movement for prejudice was filed on the twenty eighth listening to and claimed that by making the earlier announcement, she had hinted at a preconceived intent to acquit Brückner.
The prosecution now has the power to attraction Ms Engemann’s verdict by taking it to Germany’s supreme courtroom, the Federal Constitutional Court docket in Karlsruhe.
If this courtroom guidelines of their favour, there can be a retrial utilizing a special decide. Ms Lindemann already acknowledged her intention to “take it to Karlsruhe”.
In the meantime, Brückner nonetheless must serve the tip of the sentence he was handed in 2019 for the brutal rape of Diana Menkes, a US nationwide, in Portugal in 2005. He’s set to be freed subsequent yr.
In courtroom on Monday, Mr Fülscher stated: “We’re sitting right here immediately to resolve on the liberty and the destiny of a human being. Mr Brückner, is accused of committing 5 severe offences, however the courtroom of the primary trial tells a very totally different story than the general public prosecution workplace has introduced right here.”
Alluding to Nazi Germany, he continued: “Our constitutional state is initially that the respective offence and never the offender is on the centre of the proceedings.
“We now not lock individuals up right here as a result of they’ve character deficits. That point is lengthy gone in our historical past, thank God.”
Mr Fülscher started by criticising what he noticed as inconsistent testimonies given by witnesses.
These included former petty criminals Manfred Seyfurth and Helge Busching, who declare to have seen movies of Brückner committing rape after breaking into his home in Portugal whereas he was in jail for stealing diesel.
Mr Fülscher attacked Busching as a “busybody and a liar” and accused him of mendacity about proudly owning a Fb account and displaying a video of a rape to a British barlady who later refuted it.
He additionally hit out at Busching over his description of the rapes. Specifically, Mr Fülscher stated Büsching’s testimony gave three contradictory accounts of the offences.
Equally, he stated that Seyfurth’s testimony, through which he additionally claimed to have seen video of the rapes, was “of the bottom degree” and “lacked a minimal diploma of consistency”.
‘Highest class of hazard’
A report offered by Dr Christian Riedeman, the forensic psychiatrist, painted a grim image of Brückner.
Dr Riedemann testified that Brückner falls into the “highest class of hazard”, describing him as a severe risk to society.
She additionally revealed that he wrote disturbing tales with graphic descriptions and drawings detailing the rape of ladies and kids.
This revelation additional fueled the prosecution’s narrative of Brückner as a harmful and calculating particular person.
But regardless of the damning psychological profile, the defence prompt there have been a number of discrepancies between the alleged crimes within the present trial and Brückner’s earlier convictions.
They argued that his modus operandi was totally different due to how he interacted with the victims and the language used throughout the assaults. The defence maintained doubt on whether or not he’s the perpetrator in all of the instances being introduced earlier than the courtroom.
However all through the trial, Brückner sat impassively – showing gaunt and indifferent – and didn’t make any official assertion earlier than the courtroom.
The London Telegraph