Judge fights back tears "Fatal mistakes" - acquittal in the trial over Hanna's death
According to the court's decision, the accused must be compensated for his previous imprisonment. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Even the presiding judge Heike Will fought back tears at the end of the trial. (archive image)
Image: dpa
The defendant's lawyers, Yves Georg and Regina Rick, demanded further consequences after the verdict.
Image: dpa
According to the court's decision, the accused must be compensated for his previous imprisonment. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Even the presiding judge Heike Will fought back tears at the end of the trial. (archive image)
Image: dpa
The defendant's lawyers, Yves Georg and Regina Rick, demanded further consequences after the verdict.
Image: dpa
In 2024, a young man in Bavaria was convicted of the murder of student Hanna - now he has been acquitted. Even the judge is fighting back tears.
25.11.2025, 21:14
25.11.2025, 21:19
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A man was convicted of the murder of student Hanna in the first trial last year.
- Hanna was discovered dead in the Prien River on the night of October 3, 2022 after a party in the "Eiskeller" disco.
- A few weeks later, the young man was arrested, charged and convicted.
- However, the Federal Supreme Court overturned the verdict due to a procedural error and the defendant has now been acquitted
- "This legal system has done you a great injustice," said Judge Will, addressing the defendant and fighting back tears.
He was convicted of murder in the first trial last year, now he is a free man: the defendant in the trial for the death of the student Hanna from Aschau in Upper Bavaria has been acquitted. In the end, even the public prosecutor's office called for an acquittal - and the presiding judge Heike Will apologized with emotional words.
There were "no indications that the accused could be responsible for the death", she said, adding that "the taking of evidence has shown that a number of fatal mistakes were made in the course of the investigation". This must have consequences elsewhere.
"The legal system has done you a great injustice"
"This legal system has done you a great injustice," said Judge Will, addressing the defendant and fighting back tears. "As part of this legal system, I would like to apologize to you." Applause erupts in the courtroom.
The judge's tears are "appropriate to the drama that has happened here", says defense lawyer Regina Rick, who has also represented justice victim Manfred Genditzki in court, and demands consequences for the judge from the first trial concerning the alleged - or supposed - murder of Hanna and for the investigators of the criminal investigation department in Rosenheim, who "downright misappropriated evidence".
Death after "Eiskeller" party
Hanna was discovered dead in the Prien River with many injuries on the night of October 3, 2022 after a night of partying in the "Eiskeller" disco in Aschau. A few weeks later, the young man was arrested and later charged.
In March 2024, the Traunstein district court sentenced him to a juvenile sentence of nine years for murder. However, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the verdict due to a procedural error, so the case was retried at the end of September - and now came to a completely different conclusion.
Court calls witnesses "untrustworthy"
The charges against the German had literally collapsed in the rooms of the Laufen district court, where the Traunstein regional court was hearing the case due to lack of space. Witnesses to whom the now 23-year-old is said to have confessed to the crime were deemed "unbelievable" by the court - and there was no other evidence against him. "No traces", says Judge Will. "There is no murder weapon" and "not a single piece of convincing circumstantial evidence".
Will speaks of an "unexpectedly quick end to the trial". Originally, dates had been set until shortly before Christmas. The trial was not able to clarify what happened to Hanna, she says. But it did clarify that the defendant could not be convicted. "As unsatisfactory as it may seem, the question of whether it was an accident or third-party fault is no longer relevant to this trial and its not guilty verdict."
The defense - unlike the prosecution - had assumed from the outset that the student had fallen into the stream while drunk and through no fault of her own and had died there. In their opinion, Hanna sustained the injuries, mainly to her head and upper body, when she floated around twelve kilometers in the river.
Lawyers demand consequences
According to the court's decision, the now 23-year-old defendant must be compensated for his imprisonment to date. His lawyers Rick and Yves Georg announced further proceedings in this regard, such as official liability proceedings. They also called on the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for the police, to take action.
In her ruling, Judge Will also expressed understanding for the fact that the outcome of the trial, which was unable to clarify the question of how Hanna came to her death, was "unsatisfactory". She expressed her "deepest sympathy" to the student's family, who had withdrawn from the proceedings as co-plaintiffs during the course of the trial, partly due to the way the defense worked.