Christian Brueckner: To be or not to be

I read this morning that the main event of yesterdays hearing was that the prosecutor asked the judge for 15 years in Jail and that the prosecutor had seen enough already to sentence him.

To me, this is now a 50/50 case. It seems like they will reach a verdict next Tuesday 08.10.2024.

This being the judge who has already announced that there did not seem enough even to keep him in custody - for those offences.
Fülscher has the final word

I absolutely agree Peter! His defence is rock solid. But as always, media twist the events to benefit the narrative.

I hope he is never released again.

EaglesEye_ wrote:I read this morning that the main event of yesterdays hearing was that the prosecutor asked the judge for 15 years in Jail and that the prosecutor had seen enough already to sentence him.

To me, this is now a 50/50 case. It seems like they will reach a verdict next Tuesday 08.10.2024.

The prosecutor has given his opinion, and it's up to the judge to make the decision.

Justice for Maddie wrote:I hope he is never released again.

So you believe all that has been told about CB ? Starting with the alleged rape of DM, that an expert doctor proved to be false ?

He is a danger for the puplic (masturbation infront of children etc.) and I hope he stays in the "Sicherungsverwahrung".

Since HCW set its sights on CB, a host of (sexual) offences have been attributed to CB, the first public accuser being Sandra Felgueiras. All we have on how CB's mind works are the letters published in the press. Is it possible to detect psychopathy in them?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/08/trial-verdict-of-main-suspect-in-mccann-disappearance-germany-christian-brueckner

Verdict today.

Even the Olive Press seems to be coming to its senses, but it can't resist using the word CRUELLY.

Strange then that Dollimore has put it in Quotes. " "

Is there any more information about what the Spanish Forensic Expert said re the McCanns being involved in Madeleine's disappearance, please?

Now on Sky.
Martin Brunt having to choose his words carefully


Poor Jon Clarke.
10,000 books in landfill

I think Jon Clarke would be well advised to sell his house and transfer ownership of the Olive Press to someone else, as he can surely now expect a Letter Before Action over the gross libels and lies he has told about Christian Brückner, and the huge amount of money he has undoubtedly made by so doing may be raised as an issue when he either tries to settle out of court, or Damages are awarded at a trial.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/08/christian-bruckner-acquitted-madeleine-mccann-braunschweig/

Text without photos

Madeleine McCann prime suspect acquitted of separate rape charges
Convicted paedophile and rapist believed to be linked to McCann’s 2007 disappearance acquitted by controversial German judge
Rob Hyde
08 October 2024 9:10am BST

Convicted paedophile and rapist Christian Brückner, the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has been acquitted of horrific sex offences by a controversial German judge.
Brückner, 47, is who German investigators believe killed McCann, then 3, after abducting her from her parent’s holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.
However, he has never been charged in relation to McCann’s disappearance. 
Instead, he was on trial at Brunswick Regional Court for various non-related offences that took place in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017. These include charges of rape and masturbating in front of children.
On Tuesday, Uta Inse Engemann, the presiding judge, said evidence against Brückner was “insufficient” and acquitted him of all charges.
“We as judges have sworn an oath. And it is to serve the truth only.
“We take this very seriously,” Ms Engemann said as she delivered the verdict of a full acquittal.
“But we cannot wrap people in cotton wool.”
“This oath means that we don’t have to cater to the views of the media and the defence and the prosecution or the table of regulars-in-a-pub.”
“We have to balance all the evidence presented to us.”
She said Brückner’s case was impacted by speculation in the press.
“Everyone had heard about him in the Maddie McCann case. And they all knew that Brückner since 2020 was always named by the public prosecution office.”
“When in the media, a person is here described as a sex monster and a pervert, then it influences the witness.”

The trial was a fiercely-contested battleground.
The courtroom saw angry verbal skirmishes over 35 days of proceedings between prosecutors and the defence, led by Friedrich Fülscher, along with shouted interruptions by Ms Engemann.
Ute Lindemann, the chief public prosecutor, demanded a total of 15 years in prison for Brückner last week, and for him to be placed under preventive detention, whereby prisoners deemed to pose a danger to society are not released even if they have served their sentence.
Mr Fülscher, Brückner’s defence attorney, tried to dismantle the prosecution’s case in his terse closing plea on Monday, and showed solidarity with the judge, whom the prosecution accused of bias in favour of  Brückner.
He said: “Last week, you attacked the professional judge, my colleagues and myself, polemically and personally for long bouts. 
“You made it clear out from the outset that your closing statement was addressed to the public and not to the chamber.”
“You were particularly concerned with maximising damage to professional judges. Almost without exception, your criticism was unjustified and of a rarely low level. My colleagues and I will not stoop to this level today, rather devote ourselves to the actual purpose of these proceedings.”

Judge draws gender controversy
Ms Engemann, who was born in the federal state of Lower Saxony during the 1960s, studied law at the University of Göttingen before starting her first judicial role at Brunswick Regional Court in 1993.
Her career took a controversial turn between 2005 and 2010 because of her association with Vaternotruf, a fathers’ rights organisation based in Berlin.
Vaternotruf was known for its outspoken advocacy of fathers involved in custodial disputes, often criticising what it perceived as systemic biases against men within family courts
Ms Engemann drew fierce criticism from feminist organisations and legal professionals, who raised profound concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
She then officially distanced herself from the Vaternotruf organisation but the issue has continued to raise questions about her neutrality.
By 2015, her career focus shifted to criminal cases, and she presided over a violent crime trial in Brunswick in 2017.

Brückner’s case went to trial early this year, with Ms Engemann triggering controversy by ruling in July that the evidence against him was so “insufficient” that the arrest warrant would be lifted.
It provoked particular concern that she made this announcement before the prosecution had finished giving its evidence.
As a result, the prosecution moved to have Ms Engemann removed on the basis that she was allegedly biased.
A prosecution motion for prejudice was filed at the 28th hearing and claimed that by making the previous announcement, she had hinted at a preconceived intent to acquit Brückner.
The prosecution now has the ability to appeal Ms Engemann’s verdict by taking it to Germany’s supreme court, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
If this court rules in their favour, there will be a retrial using a different judge. Ms Lindemann already stated her intention to “take it to Karlsruhe.”
Meanwhile, Brückner still needs to serve the end of the sentence he was handed in 2019 for the brutal rape of Diana Menkes, a US national, in Portugal in 2005.
In court on Monday, Mr Fülscher said: “We are sitting here today to decide on the freedom and the fate of a human being. Mr Brückner, is accused of committing five serious offences, but the court of the main trial tells a completely different story than the public prosecution office has presented here.”

Alluding to Nazi Germany, he continued: “Our constitutional state is first and foremost that the respective offence and not the offender is at the centre of the proceedings.”
“We no longer lock people up here because they have character deficits. That time is long gone in our history, thank God.”
Mr Fülscher began by criticising what he saw as inconsistent testimonies given by witnesses.
These included former petty criminals Manfred Seyfurth and Helge Busching, who claim to have seen videos of Brückner committing rape after breaking into his house in Portugal while he was in prison for stealing diesel.
Mr Fülscher attacked Busching as a “busybody and a liar” and accused him of lying about owning a Facebook account and showing a video of a rape to a British barlady who later refuted it. 
He also hit out at Busching over his description of the rapes. In particular, Mr Fülscher said Büsching’s testimony gave three contradictory accounts of the offences. 
Similarly, he said Seyfurth’s testimony, in which he also claimed to have seen video of the rapes, was “of the lowest level” and “lacked a minimum degree of consistency.”
‘Highest category of danger’
A report provided by Dr Christian Riedeman, the forensic psychiatrist, painted a grim picture of Brückner.
Ms Riedemann testified that Brückner falls into the “highest category of danger”, describing him as a serious threat to society.
She also revealed that he wrote disturbing stories with graphic descriptions and drawings detailing the rape of women and children.
This revelation further fueled the prosecution’s narrative of Brückner as a dangerous and calculating individual.
Yet, despite the damning psychological profile, the defence suggested there were several discrepancies between the alleged crimes in the current trial and Brückner’s previous convictions.
They argued that his modus operandi was different because of how he interacted with the victims and the language used during the attacks. The defence maintained doubt on whether he is the perpetrator in all the cases being brought before the court.
But throughout the trial, Brückner sat impassively – appearing gaunt and detached – and did not make any official statement before the court.

“Everyone had heard about him in the Maddie McCann case. And they all knew that Brückner since 2020 was always named by the public prosecution office.”
“When in the media, a person is here described as a sex monster and a pervert, then it influences the witness.”

So use of the media in this manner backfired then...

TIMES.  Text

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/christian-brueckner-madeleine-mccann-suspect-cleared-of-other-crimes-ppzz39jx0

Christian Brueckner: Madeleine McCann suspect cleared of other crimes
His acquittal in a German court may hinder attempts to charge Brueckner with the British girl’s abduction and murder in 2007

Rob Hyde, Braunschweig
Tuesday October 08 2024, 9.12am BST, The Times
 

The German paedophile who is the prime suspect in the abduction of the British toddler Madeleine McCann has been cleared of sex offences against five other girls and women in a significant setback for the investigators.
The acquittal means Christian Brueckner may be released from prison early next year and is also likely to raise hurdles to charging him with Madeleine’s kidnap and murder.

Prosecutors in Germany say they are convinced that Brueckner, 47, a prolific criminal with a record of rape and sexual abuse, took the three-year-old girl from her parents’ rented holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.
They have yet to level any charges against him in the McCann case and he has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Instead Brueckner, who is nearing the end of a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of an American pensioner, was tried for a range of unrelated offences he was alleged to have committed against various female victims in Portugal from 2000 to 2017.

They included masturbating in front of a ten-year-old German girl on a beach, sexually abusing a German teenager at his home in the Algarve and raping an Irish tour representative called Hazel Behan, who was 20 years old at the time.
However, after a string of apparent missteps by the prosecution, Brueckner was found not guilty on all counts by Braunschweig regional court on Tuesday.
The prosecutors had leant heavily on witness statements that were frequently muddled and on the purported existence of video tapes documenting the rape of two women who could not be identified.
Behan, 40, gave a lucid account of how she had been threatened at knifepoint, tied up and repeatedly raped by a masked intruder who had clambered into her apartment through the balcony. However, because of the mask, the court ruled there was insufficient evidence that Brueckner had been the culprit.
Voices raised at tense trial
The trial was a highly strung and at times disorderly affair punctuated by angry skirmishes between the prosecutors and Brueckner’s defence.

On occasions Uta Engemann, the presiding judge, whom the prosecutors had accused of bias towards the defence, felt obliged to shout to calm proceedings.
Even before the prosecution had finished stating its case, Engemann ruled the evidence against Brueckner was so “insufficient” that the warrant for his arrest — a technical measure to ensure he could be taken back into custody in the event of his release from prison — was to be lifted.
On Monday, the last day of the trial, Friedrich Fülscher, Brueckner’s chief defence lawyer, embarked on a tirade against the prosecutors, who he said had been seeking to inflict “maximum damage on professional judges”. He added: “Almost without exception, your criticism was unjustified and of an unusually low level.”
The botched prosecution was carried out by the team in Braunschweig that is leading the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

While the latest verdict has no direct legal bearing on the McCann case, it may complicate the efforts to bring Brueckner to trial for her abduction.

He will now be set free from prison in early 2025 unless a court issues an order for him to be taken into preventative custody, a mechanism in German law that is used to detain serial offenders believed to pose a significant danger to the public.
It will also embolden Brueckner’s defence lawyers and increase the pressure on the prosecutors to hold back on charging him until they can demonstrate that they have amassed an irrefutable body of evidence.

Philo Beddoe wrote:
So use of the media in this manner backfired then...

The McCanns use of the media was a major factor in their losing at the ECHR

German Press

https://www.bild.de/news/maddie-verdaechtiger-christian-brueckner-freigesprochen-6704e750a527c45ced0ab07d

Der auch im Fall Maddie verdächtige Christian Brückner ist vom Landgericht Braunschweig vom Vorwurf mehrerer schwerer Sexualstraftaten freigesprochen worden. Der 47-jährige Deutsche bleibt aber im Gefängnis, weil er noch bis September 2025 eine Haftstrafe wegen Vergewaltigung absitzt.


Das Gericht um die Vorsitzende Dr. Uta Engemann befand Brückner in allen fünf Anklagepunkten für nicht schuldig. Brückner stand wegen drei Vergewaltigungen und zwei Fällen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern vor Gericht.

Christian Brückner is innocent. In Germany they have a real and impartial justice system and not trial by media kangaroo court. It's desperation that he is treated as a suspect for a crime which never happened but this is 'masonic fantasy thug-land UK' we're living in, where a nurse can be given a whole life tariff for bad drainage in a hospital.

Sky News



Welt Nachrichten (German News TV)

Entsetzen im Gerichtssaal-Maddie-Verdächtiger im Vergewaltigungsprozess freigesprochen!
HORROR IN THE COURTROOM: Maddie suspect acquitted in rape trial!

I'd like to know on what grounds the BBC (current main story) think he is a Madeleine McCann suspect.

Sounds like a conspiracy story to me. Maybe Mariana Spring could "verify" it.