Also suspicious in the Maddie case - Public prosecutor wants new judges in the Christian B. trial
In the rape trial against Christian B., who is also a suspect in the Maddie case, the prosecution has had three professional judges declared impartial by the court and intends to replace them. This was announced by the prosecution office after the ruling on Wednesday that lifted the arrest warrant against the defendant. The prosecution fears that the Criminal Chamber has already formed an opinion on the fact and guilt question - although the evidence collection is expected to still be running until at least October. Therefore, they requested the "replacement with unbiased judges and judgeesses".
Additionally, the prosecution announced that they will file an appeal against the lifting of the arrest warrant. The defense of Christian B. had originally filed this application. The Chamber saw on Wednesday in all the accusations no pressing suspicion of crime and followed the application of the defense. However, the sexual offender remains in prison, as he is currently serving a sentence for the rape of an American woman, the crime scene was Portugal. Defense lawyer Friedrich Fülscher spoke of a groundbreaking decision by the court. He now assumes that the trial will end in an acquittal.
Decision by August 5
The responsible representation chamber will decide on the recusal application of the prosecution by the next hearing day on August 5, if it is deemed admissible, as the court announced. Fülscher called the application a desperate act.
At the Braunschweig Regional Court, the 47-year-old Christian B. must answer for five serious sexual offenses that he is alleged to have committed in Portugal. It concerns three rapes and two cases of sexual abuse of children between 2000 and 2017. Different from the previous trial date at the end of June, Christian B. did not appear in the trial room with a wheelchair, leg irons, and a belly belt. Defense lawyer Philipp Marquart had said that his client had complained of foot pain and had been treated.
The trial was resumed despite the recusal application.
The trial continued with the testimony of an expert witness, who spoke, among other things, about the question of whether recognition of a perpetrator is possible solely based on the color of the eyes. The expert witness stated in this context that blue eyes can also be recognized in the dark.
Background is the case of an Irishwoman who was raped in Portugal in 2004. She had reported to the court as a witness about "striking blue eyes". "His eyes, I believe, this man is the attacker," she told the court. The defense considered recognition based on eye color to be impossible. The expert witness had also stated that there are no differences in the perception of eye colors: "Blue is blue." Striking or radiant blue eyes come from the realm of poetry.
Great interest is aroused by the proceedings above all because the defendant is also a suspect in the Maddie case. The Maddie case is officially not part of this trial. The investigations into the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl from a Portuguese holiday resort in Praia da Luz in May 2007 are still ongoing. The presumption of innocence applies.
- Despite the ongoing recusal application by the prosecution, the trial against Christian B., a suspect in the Maddie case, continued with the testimony of an expert witness in Braunschweig.
- The expert witness in the trial mentioned that while blue eyes are often considered striking or radiant, they are still just blue, making recognition based on eye color possible even in the dark.
- In Great Britain, there's significant public interest in the ongoing trial, as Christian B. is also a suspect in the unsolved case of the missing three-year-old British girl Maddie from Praia da Luz in May 2007.
- Despite the ruling lifting the arrest warrant, Christian B. remains in prison in Germany, serving a sentence for the rape of an American woman in Portugal.
- Friedrich Fülscher, Christian B.'s defense lawyer, had earlier considered the court's decision to lift the arrest warrant a groundbreaking decision, and now assumes that the trial will end with an acquittal.
- The Lower Saxony Public Prosecutor's Office has three professional judges declared impartial by the court in the rape trial against Christian B., but the prosecution intends to replace them due to concerns about potential bias.
