District Court - File concealed - Fine for ex-judicial officials
A former employee of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf, a 46-year-old woman from Cologne, has been sentenced to a fine of 4,200 Euro by the Amtsgericht in Düsseldorf for custody violation and obstruction of justice in two cases.
The judge imposed a fine of 140 installments of 30 Euro each. This is significantly higher than the fine of 90 installments of 40 Euro requested by the prosecutor, totaling 3,600 Euro. The judge justified this by citing general preventive aspects and the fact that it was not just simple obstruction of justice, but obstruction of justice in office in both cases.
Obstructing prosecution due to lapse of time
"They were only employees at the authority, but they were active as public servants in their work," the judge remarked towards the defendant. The woman had been employed as a clerk at a department of the Düsseldorf Prosecutor's Office since December 2021, which primarily deals with juvenile offenses and sexual offenses. Between November 2022 and July 2023, she submitted 112 cases to the prosecutors too late or not at all.
"I was completely overwhelmed. The volume was too much for me to handle," the defendant explained. She did not ask for help. "I always did everything alone." As a result of her actions, a proceeding regarding the possession of child pornographic literature was significantly delayed, and in one case of child pornography, the prosecution due to lapse of time was completely thwarted.
Unjustified dismissal
Initially, the woman attempted to compensate for the backlog with overtime. When that did not work, she admitted in her own words that she had extended or eliminated deadlines for some case files herself. Among other things, 68 files were found in a moving box with the label "Please keep the box standing, personal items" and 44 files in her lockable roll container.
After the cases became known, the woman had been dismissed from the Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf without notice a year ago. "The high workload in the justice system is known," said prosecutor Thomas Tupait. He emphasized that the defendants had confessed everything to the police. And she had "apparently only acted out of being overwhelmed and not with the intention of intentionally avoiding penalties."
With the 90 installments demanded by him, the woman would not have been convicted beforehand. However, the judge imposed a higher penalty. The defendant, who appeared in court today without a lawyer, accepted the penalty. The prosecutor did not make a statement on this matter.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf, where the defendant worked, primarily handles cases related to juvenile offenses and sexual offenses.
- The District Court in Düsseldorf, where the trial took place, imposed a fine on the woman from Cologne for custody violation and obstruction of justice.
- Despite the woman's objection that she was overwhelmed and acted out of being unable to handle the workload, her actions led to the thwarting of a child pornography prosecution due to lapse of time.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf, where the woman was employed, is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, a state known for its high workload in the justice system.
- The woman's dismissal from the Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf without notice was a result of her actions, but the prosecutor emphasized that she had confessed to her mistakes and did not act with intent to avoid penalties.
