No one present at the Ehingen District Court on Monday disputed that the ticket inspector was insulted and hit in the face several times at the Ehingen train station last February. However, the problem lay elsewhere. As Judge Yannick Gast said during the trial: “Who attacked you? We couldn’t answer that question.”
Witness statements and video raise doubts
In the end, it wasn’t just the witness statements that saved the defendant from punishment. A video is also intended to exclude the 18-year-old at the time of the crime as the perpetrator. It shows the teenager sleeping on the train shortly after the crime occurred – with a time stamp that can be added to the app on the social media platform Snapchat.
The video was recorded by a friend of the 18-year-old and presented at the first hearing on September 17th. In order to time the video, Judge Gast postponed the hearing.
It is certain that the defendant was sitting on the train, said the judge at the continuation hearing on Monday afternoon. There is also evidence that he was fined for missing a ticket. But it cannot be said that he was the one who struck.
Description is not sufficient for identification
None of the witnesses could identify him as the perpetrator. Nobody had seen the thug’s face closely. And the inspector could only remember the perpetrator’s thick eyebrows. Before the district court it was only stated that the attacker was slightly smaller than the inspector and that he had a “southern, darker appearance”. These descriptions would also apply to the defendant, said Gast, but were not enough to identify him as the perpetrator.
In addition, the witnesses unanimously reported that the perpetrator fled towards Ehingen city center after the beating. However, a video that was recorded with the app Snapchat and which has a time stamp of 5:13 p.m. shows the defendant sitting and sleeping on the moving train to Munderkingen. That was 20 minutes after the crime at Ehingen train station. However, no one noticed that he might have returned to the train.
Video with time stamp on the journey behind Ehingen
Gast had requested from Deutsche Bahn the times at which the train stopped at the Ehingen, Rottenacker and Munderkingen stations after the crime. This showed that the regional express was moving behind Ehingen at the time in question and that the video could therefore be considered real.
The recording also shows an injury to the defendant’s nose, which he also had in videos that were taken earlier that day. “I think it’s unlikely that the video was constructed,” said Gast, referring to the great effort that would have to be made, agreeing with the prosecution and defense.
Lawyer complains about errors in investigation
The inspector, who suffered several injuries to his face during the attack – including a split chin – appeared as a co-plaintiff in court. His lawyer spoke of errors in the investigation and that it had only been conducted “necessarily”. He explicitly excluded those present in the courtroom from the statement.
He emphasized that his client was not interested in revenge. He wants to know the truth. Even if it cannot be said 100 percent that the defendant did not commit the crime, as the lawyer said.
“In case of doubt for the defendant” the verdict was finally announced as acquittal. The costs of the procedure are borne by the state treasury. Finally, Judge Gast once again addressed the ticket inspector, who is “at the service of society” every day. Since the crime had already taken place a year and a half ago, the Ehingen judge saw it as very likely that “the injured party will no longer be presented with the perpetrator.”
