More than a year after a Würzburg verdict on the violent death of a baby from the Main-Spessart district, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Leipzig referred the case back to the Würzburg District Court. A BGH spokeswoman said on Tuesday in Karlsruhe that the matter would have to be re-negotiated and decided in Würzburg before another criminal chamber as a jury. On February 22, 2021, the regional court had sentenced the accused to eleven years in prison for manslaughter. The 25-year-old German is said to have abused and suffocated his girlfriend’s eight-month-old baby shortly before Christmas 2019 in the Gemünden am Main area. The man had always denied this.
Experts attested full culpability
The defender of the 25-year-old had spoken out in his plea for a prison sentence of seven years for bodily harm resulting in death. The public prosecutor had pleaded for a prison sentence of twelve years for manslaughter. The man was originally charged with murder. During the course of the trial, a psychiatric expert had determined that he was fully culpable. After the verdict, the prosecution and defense appealed. It is still unclear when the process will be reopened.
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