Trier Drive-Amok Trial to See Partial Retrial
Following a ruling from the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe, parts of the trial surrounding the deadly rampage in Trier will be reopened. The decision, announced on Monday, saw the Trier regional court's verdict largely overturned due to legal errors. Consequently, the defendant's appeal was upheld, according to the BGH.
The regional court had failed to adequately justify its assumption that the defendant was acting in a significantly reduced state of culpability without legal errors. As a result, decisions regarding the legal consequences were also overturned.
During the rampage, which occurred on December 1, 2020, a man drove his SUV through the pedestrian zone in Trier, deliberately striking passersby. Tragically, five people lost their lives: a nine-week-old baby, its father (45), and three women aged 73, 52, and 25. Furthermore, numerous individuals were injured and traumatized.
In 2022, the perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple murders and attempted murders at the Trier Regional Court. The court also identified the gravity of the defendant's guilt and ordered him to be placed in a closed psychiatric hospital.
According to an expert opinion presented during the trial, the man suffered from paranoid schizophrenia with bizarre delusions, rendering him of reduced culpability. However, the BGH ruled that this "generalizing approach" was not sufficient. Therefore, a newly assigned criminal chamber at Trier Regional Court will need to reevaluate the assessment of the defendant's culpability.
Specifically, the court will need to consider the individual acts' culpability as well as the possible interaction between the defendant's alcohol consumption and illness. The findings on the external facts of the crime will remain unchanged by the retrial, according to the Federal Court of Justice.
Defense lawyer Frank K. Peter emphasized that the entire subjective area now needed reexamination. This encompasses murder characteristics, premeditation, the client's illness, and the question of possible incapacity.
Peter speculated that "a new sentence" could result from the retrial. He suggested that "four, five, six trial days" would be required for the retrial, which he estimated could occur in spring 2024. The rampage's driver, who had remained silent during the year-long trial, remains in prison.
The families of the victims and affected individuals were disheartened by the BGH decision. "It's impossible that it could happen again," said Wolfgang Hilsemer, who lost his sister (73) in the rampage and whose brother-in-law later passed away from his injuries. "The sheer thought of it brings tears to my eyes again—tears of anger rather than tears of grief."
Hilsemer expressed frustration over receiving the BGH decision on the third anniversary of the shooting rampage last Friday (December 1). His sentiments echoed those of family members and affected parties who have yet to find closure due to the prolonged legal processes.
