- BGH confirms acquittal after deadly police operation
In a fatal police intervention in Mannheim over two years ago, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed the acquittal of one of the officers by the competent regional court. The court had decided in March that the actions of the two accused police officers in May 2022 at the market square were essentially justified. One officer was acquitted, while his colleague was sentenced to a fine of 6,000 euros. The BGH in Karlsruhe has not yet decided on the appeal of the civil party regarding the convicted officer, according to a spokesperson.
Although the mentally ill victim would not have died without the violent intervention of the two police officers, the presiding judge at Mannheim Regional Court said at the time. The 47-year-old patient of the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim (ZI) was, in the opinion of his doctor, in a psychological exceptional state that day. The doctor had called the police because he feared that the patient might harm himself.
Danger to public safety
The police officers were not only authorized but obliged to take the heart patient back to the ZI against his will. From a police law perspective, there was a danger to public safety and order. The officers were also entitled to defend themselves against attacks from the later victim.
On various videos, including from surveillance cameras, it can be seen how one of the officers grabs the later victim and how the man breaks free before being overpowered. The officer brings the man to the ground together with his colleague, pins him down with his knee, and strikes him in the face with his fists. The overpowered man bleeds from the nose and remains lying down.
The man died in the hospital - according to a defense report, due to cardiac arrest following circulatory failure.
Bodily injury in office
However, the regional court convicted one of the officers involved, a then 27-year-old police inspector, for bodily injury in office to 120 days of imprisonment at 50 euros per day. He had struck the man lying on the ground four more times with his fist. The court ruled that these blows were "not a necessary defensive action."
The civil parties had sharply criticized the verdict at the time. The man was a fearful, confused person who was trying to escape a situation that was threatening and incomprehensible to him and who was not helped later, said one of the two lawyers for the civil parties.
The defense argued for the exoneration of the police officer who was convicted for bodily injury in office, citing the necessity and justified nature of his actions during the incident. Regardless, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe has not yet ruled on the appeal for exoneration of the accused officer.
