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Defendant Michael M. with his defense attorney in Berlin (archive photo from October 2021)
Photo: Paul Zinken / dpa
"Remember not to drive." The presiding judge repeated the sentence several times during the sentencing.
“Remember not to drive.” A doctor said these words to the accused at the end of August 2019.
The defendant himself admitted this at the beginning of the trial.
A good week later, Michael M. was behind the wheel of his SUV again – with fatal consequences.
Michael M. wanted to drive his Porsche Magan Turbo to a nearby restaurant in Berlin-Mitte around 7 p.m. on September 6, 2019.
His mother was in the car next to him, and his six-year-old daughter was in the back seat.
Michael M. suffered an epileptic seizure on Invalidenstrasse.
He got into the oncoming lane with his car.
His right leg spasmed, so he put the accelerator pedal to the floor.
His mother tried in vain to detach her son's leg from the accelerator pedal.
The SUV crashed onto the sidewalk at up to 106 km/h.
The car hit a three-year-old boy, his 64-year-old grandmother and two men, 28 and 29, who were waiting at a traffic light.
All four died at the scene of the accident.
"The victims didn't stand a chance"
There is video footage from a dash cam from another vehicle.
"When you see the video recordings, it becomes clear that the victims didn't stand a chance," says Judge Willi Thoms, head of the 42nd Criminal Division of the Berlin Regional Court.
He speaks of a "terrible accident" for which the 45-year-old Michael M. is responsible.
The accused could and should have recognized that he was not fit to drive due to his medical history.
Although doctors informed him incorrectly or insufficiently about his unfitness to drive, Michael M., like any other driver, is obliged to check his own fitness to drive.
Judge Thoms addresses the defendant.
"Four people lost their lives because of your deliberate negligence."
two years imprisonment
The court sentenced Michael M. on Thursday to two years' imprisonment for four counts of negligent manslaughter and negligent endangerment of road traffic, suspended for four years.
Michael M. was not allowed to drive a car for two years.
He also has to pay 15,000 euros to a non-profit association.
Addressing the families of the victims, the judge said: "The Chamber recognizes that no judgment can alleviate the unspeakable pain of the loved ones."
The court found that the defendant was not allowed to get behind the wheel on that day in September.
In 2018, a small brain tumor was discovered in Michael M.
In May 2019, Michael M. had his first epileptic seizure while he was sleeping.
He came to the Charité emergency room.
According to the Chamber's conviction, he was informed at the time that he was not fit to drive.
The next day he was recommended to have the tumor removed.
He was advised that he would not be allowed to drive a car for at least three months.
It was also noted in the doctor's letter.
Hamburg forensic pathologist Klaus Püschel and another expert found out that this was insufficient instruction.
Even then, the accused should have been informed that he was not allowed to drive a car for not just three, but twelve months due to his tumor.
At the beginning of August 2019, Michael M. had his brain tumor removed in Switzerland.
In mid-August, the Swiss doctor told him to stop driving for four weeks.
The court finds that this duration is far below the German guidelines.
But Michael M. didn't even wait the four weeks.
In August he drove short distances in his Porsche.
On August 27 he was back at the doctor's.
"Remember not to drive," he was told.
Michael M. informed the court himself.
However, he does not want to have really noticed the warning.
How exactly the doctor informed Michael M. that August 27 that he was unfit to drive could not be determined by the Chamber.
An "almost textbook-like" explanation, according to the judge, was found in the patient file.
Accordingly, Michael M. was correctly informed that he was not allowed to drive a vehicle for twelve months because of his tumor.
However, the taking of evidence revealed that the doctor only added this note to the patient's file afterwards, after the accident in September.
The doctor had finally admitted this in the process.
The court considers it possible that this information was actually given and that the doctor simply failed to document it in the file in August.
But the last doubts could not be dispelled.
The chamber has no doubts about the doctor's words: "Remember not to drive a car."
A deadly mistake
In his statement at the beginning of the trial, the defendant said that he had not expected to suffer an epileptic seizure ever again.
Otherwise he would not have taken his mother and child in the car.
He only understood the warnings of the doctors as recommendations.
At the latest after the successful tumor surgery, he was completely sure that he would not experience another seizure.
He also asked friends and learned that an epileptic seizure could be announced by a so-called aura.
The court found that the defendant's admission was close to a confession.
“You were aware of the risk of another seizure.” The fact that he even asked acquaintances at all is evidence of this.
Michael M. thought he had everything under control and could react in time before an attack.
A mistake that was fatal for four people.
The fact that doctors informed him incorrectly or not completely did not release Michael M. from his own duty of care.
With his medical history, he was obliged to inform himself precisely.
Probation or imprisonment?
The court struggled with the decision.
"The chamber deliberated for a very, very long time." Ultimately, she came to the conclusion that the prison sentence could "just about" be suspended on probation.
The fact that he has no criminal record, that he paid 50,000 euros to the families of the victims early on and made a decisive contribution to the investigation speaks for the accused.
If he hadn't released his doctors from the duty of confidentiality, criminal investigation would have been difficult.
The public prosecutor had asked for a year and a half in prison, suspended on probation.
The court goes even further with its judgement.
The defense had requested acquittal.
After the verdict, Michael M's defense attorney emphasized a "very massive medical failure".
Three "highly qualified" doctors gave his client "wrong and bad advice".
He asks: How was Michael M. supposed to live up to his personal responsibility as a layman?
"The responsibility lay with Mr. M., the driver, not with the doctors," contradicts co-plaintiff Peer Stolle.
The lawyers for the families of the dead were satisfied with the verdict.
It is particularly important to the relatives that Michael M. no longer has a driver's license for the time being, says lawyer Lukas Theune.
"It's important that someone who behaves so recklessly and selfishly and drives even though he's not allowed to drive, loses his driving license." The verdict is not yet final.