A 57-year-old witness made a dramatic statement on the second day of the trial around the night of the Starnberg riot.
One of the defendants (16) then apologized to the woman in the courtroom.
Starnberg
- The second day in the process of the Starnberg riot came to an end on Friday afternoon with the dramatic testimony of a 57-year-old mother.
The woman was at the police station on September 25, 2019 for a completely different reason, when the situation around the arrest of a 15-year-old field finger escalated.
As reported, since Thursday the Feldafinger and a Herrschinger (16), a Pöckinger (17), a Seefeld woman (17) and a Berger (20) have to answer for numerous criminal offenses before the district court, including breach of the peace, attacks on enforcement officers and attempted bodily harm .
What did the witness experience during the inspection?
The 57-year-old witness vividly describes how she experienced the evening.
She wanted to meet her son, who was in police custody for something else.
This has nothing to do with the events of that night.
At about 9:30 p.m. she arrived in Starnberg by S-Bahn, then took a taxi to the police.
In the anteroom of the building, she overheard the following events: how the security guards informed the police, how two officers went out.
"After a few minutes it got really loud," says the woman.
"The door was banged and called for help."
The two policemen came in with the youth, followed by two security guards.
“He screamed and punched,” the woman recalls.
After the officers disappeared in a corridor with their field fingers, they heard a "rumble and scream".
She didn't see anything, "but in my mind he kept wriggling and knocking over chairs".
Outside it was "like hell all the time".
“It was a huge racket.
I heard the windows beating. ”She also heard the kicks on the door.
"I had the feeling that they are right there now."
A police officer went out alone twice - "I found that extremely brave," says the woman.
“I wouldn't have dared to do it.” Shortly after 10 p.m., an officer said to her that the conversation with her son that evening would no longer work.
“As you can see, we have a big problem,” said the policeman, and: “We can no longer guarantee your safety.
You'd better go home.
The next thing to do is shoot. ”This is how the official put it, the woman assured when asked by lawyer Georg Heilmeier.
Judge Ralf Jehle wants to know how she felt.
"It was scary, horrific."
The accused Herrschinger turns to the woman after the testimony and apologizes.
He has already admitted breaking a window in the police station a year ago.
“I would like to apologize sincerely,” he says.
"I'm speechless.
I am extremely sorry. ”At the time, he did not know that there were civilians in the office.
"I accept the apology," says the 57-year-old.
What about a policeman's punch?
Immediately after the night of the riot, video recordings were found, which are also said to show the blow of a police officer against one of the accused young men before the inspection.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the investigations against the deployed officers were discontinued “due to lack of evidence”.
During the process, however, the supposed blow is discussed again.
Attorney Marco Zeininger, who represents the 20-year-old Berger, speaks of the fact that the blow on the videos is “unmistakable” - and thus earns the prosecutor's resolute objections.
“It's not a punch,” she says.
"You can see exactly that it is a flat hand that goes against the adolescent." The police officer pushed the accused away - and not hit him.
Judge Jehle comes to the same conclusion after watching the video and still images several times.
“The hand was open,” says Jehle.
"It was a push with the palm of the hand and not a blow," affirmed the deployed policeman (32).
The defendant came too close to the officials in the tumult in front of the office.
"You have to expect that."
What happened in the police station?
The prosecution also accuses 16-year-old Feldafinger of banging a 27-year-old police officer against a wall with his back and elbow, thereby causing pain.
This is said to have happened when the officer loosened the handcuff of the field finger because he complained of pain.
The 27-year-old confirms this version in court.
At the time he was alone with the defendant because his colleagues had been called to secure the building.
After the attack, however, he managed to "dig the ground under the feet of the tied Feldafinger," he says.
After the young person had calmed down again, he sat him on a chair - and then brought him to the detention cell with a colleague.
The Feldafinger denies the charge of attacking the officer.
“That's not true,” he says at the beginning of the trial, after previously confirming large parts of the indictment.
Judge Jehle wanted to know from the police whether there were beatings by the police against Feldafinger.
"No.
Zero.
In no way, ”says the 27-year-old.
Another policeman made a similar statement (23).
“Definitely at no point in time,” he replies.
However, he does not want to make it clear that the Feldafinger deliberately pushed his colleague against the wall.
In any case, the young person was "quite aggressive and uncooperative," he emphasizes.
It is undisputed that there was a lot going on in the inspection rooms even after the juvenile was arrested.
On Friday, a 17-year-old specialist from Feldafinger testifies.
The young man lives in Frieding and followed him and the police officers to the inspection.
“I wanted to help my friend,” he says.
Friedinger offered himself up to the police as a witness and was therefore in the anteroom of the inspection when the atmosphere outside became more and more heated - at times together with the 57-year-old.
His friend called out loudly for help, he says.
While the officers took him to another room, all the pictures fell down in a hallway.
What is the next step in the process?
After the Feldafinger, the Herrschinger and the Seefeld woman made some confessions on the first day (we reported), the Pöckinger and the Berger remain silent.
This behavior is "not particularly common" in a juvenile court, says Judge Jehle.
It is of course the right of the accused not to make a testimony, but then they cannot collect any plus points.
Her lawyers Marco Zeininger and Winfried Folda do not want to abandon their strategy for the time being, even after a confidential conversation with the judge and public prosecutor.
Folda speaks of "very blatant allegations that are not common in juvenile proceedings".
They are also not proven, adds Zeininger.
Behind closed doors, the parties exchange their positions for around 20 minutes - apparently without rapprochement.
"The public prosecutor's office has announced that it will plead for the imposition of youth sentences," says Jehle afterwards.
Arrests also played a role.
The process will continue next Thursday.
Then the judgments may also be pronounced.
