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Frankenthal District Court (symbolic image): The main hearing against the then 17-year-old began in September 2020
Photo: Uwe Anspach/ DPA
A 19-year-old man convicted of murder and rape, among other things, is released from custody due to the length of the proceedings.
The young man has been in custody since March 2020, according to the Palatinate Higher Regional Court in Zweibrücken.
The judgment of the Frankenthal district court in August 2022 is not yet final.
Formally, the pre-trial detention therefore continued.
The man abused three other girls
According to the first verdict, the 19-year-old raped and choked a 17-year-old at a pond in Ludwigshafen on March 12, 2020, so that she died the next day, as reported by SWR.
According to the judges, he also sexually abused three other girls.
The main hearing before the Frankenthal district court against the then 17-year-old began in September 2020.
In August 2022, the then 19-year-old was sentenced to ten years in prison for murder, rape and child sexual abuse.
Both the accused and the public prosecutor's office in Frankenthal appealed.
Duration of detention is "disproportionate"
The Palatinate Higher Regional Court in Zweibrücken was informed on Thursday that the man's complaint was right, lifted the arrest warrant and ordered the accused's release.
The reason given was that the continued detention was no longer compatible with the defendant's claim for an accelerated sentencing.
According to the court, the delays were not his fault and the length of the pre-trial detention was disproportionate.
In the main hearing, which lasted more than 22 months, only 57 days were negotiated.
On 20 of these negotiation days, the sessions lasted less than two hours.
The resulting delay amounts to a total of almost six months.
As the SWR reported, the Frankenthal district court justified the long duration of the process with the extensive taking of evidence during the process.
There were also many corona diseases among those involved.
In addition, the defense attorney for the alleged murderer was "very busy with appointments", which was difficult to reconcile with a faster procedure.
swe/dpa/afx