In the appeal process, the Munich Regional Court I sentenced Jérôme Boateng to a fine of 120 per diem of 10,000 euros for intentional bodily harm. The football player has a criminal record. However, the judgment is not yet final.
The judges saw it as proven that the 34-year-old former Bayern Munich footballer insulted, hit and hurt his then-partner on a Caribbean vacation in 2018. It basically confirms last year’s verdict. The district court had imposed a larger fine overall, but the number of nights was only half that – specifically: 60 nights of €30,000 each, a total of €1.8 million. As everyone involved in the process appealed against this verdict, the appeals process began in October. “For us, the facts are more than proven,” Judge Andreas Forstner said Wednesday.
Prior to the start of the appeals process, Boateng had expressly rejected a proposed settlement by the court. He couldn’t reconcile that with his conscience. He also declined to testify. “He denies criminal activity but will not comment on the matter,” his lawyer told the court on the first day of the appeals process.
Last year’s verdict has not become final. Not only did Boateng, who had denied the charges before the district court, appealed – the prosecutor’s office and his ex-girlfriend, who appears as a joint plaintiff, as well. The indictment, which presupposes dangerous bodily harm, demanded a suspended sentence of one and a half years and a fine of 1.5 million euros in the first trial, Boateng’s defense lawyer at the time an acquittal. The football player now has two new lawyers.
Investigations against Boateng’s security service
Judge Andreas Forstner really wanted to give the verdict on the second day of the hearing, October 21. But he didn’t come to that. That day, an incident on the sidelines of the trial also made headlines: Following an incident with the Boateng security service, the Munich Public Prosecutor I launched investigations into suspected violations of personal life through video recordings against several alleged participants : a witness testified in court, she was filmed by two security guards entering the building and felt threatened.
The woman, who told the court she saw Boateng attack, assault and insult his ex-girlfriend on a Caribbean vacation, burst into tears on the witness stand. “You’re just afraid,” she said, “of being threatened or your family being threatened.”
After verifying the personal data, Boateng’s lawyers stressed that the security service, which had already taken care of Boateng at the beginning of the trial the day before, only “determined the environment” in order to be able to assess “Boateng’s security situation”. It was a matter of pure “object clarification” and the witness was not filmed specifically and was filmed only from behind.