Otto Brixner: Difference between revisions

Otto Brixner (born 1943) is a German lawyer. He was Chairman Judge of the 7th chamber of the crime department of Nuremberg-Fürth District Court, Germany.

He became publicly known as the presiding judge of the criminal division who sentenced the justice victim Gustl Mollath into forensic hospital where he had to spend more than seven years of imprisonment. In 2011, a research by journalists raised huge doubts on the allegations against Mollath and the procedure. In 2014, in a retrial of the case, the Regensburg regional court could not determine the conditions for accommodation of the accused.

Life and career

In the 1950s and 1960s, Otto Brixner's parents operated a restaurant in Herrenberg.

As a teenager, Brixner had a talent for handball. He sprinted 100 Meters in 11.2 seconds. Brixner was an active handball player in the 1. FC Nuremberg club, and the TSV 1860 Ansbach as well as the TSV 1891 Frauenaurach. For many years, he also coached the women's handball team of the 1. FC Nürnberg. Brixner was also the coach of the Bavarian Handball C youth until 1991.

After military service at Bundeswehr, Brixner studied law sciences. On 1 April 1973, he signed up for prosecuting attorney in the Bavarian judicial service. In his three years as a prosecutor, he was considered a meticulous prosecutor. He once, as part of an investigation, hid in bushes along with undercover investigators. He took a major role with the police in conducting preliminary investigations in many fatal traffic accidents. In his first official assessment, he was certified to have been "born" for this job.

In 1976, Brixner became a judge at Erlangen district court, in criminal and civil cases. In October 1987, Brixner changed to Nuremberg-Fürth district court, also working in criminal and civil matter. As a supervisor, he eliminated the fee demands of the supervisor which in his opinion were excessive. As a result, those affected had complained about him in a protest march to the president of the judiciary. Although Brixner was transferred to another position, he was regulated the supervisor by law. In July 1998, after his appointment as chairman of the Nuremberg-Fürth district court, Brixner took over the chairmanship of the 6th chamber of crime department, primarily judging invocations of drug related matters. Most recently, he was chairing the 7th chamber of the criminal court, responsible for drug and general criminal matters in the first instance.

Brixner never made use of communication in criminal proceedings (So-called. Deal on penalty), that is, a practice widely used in criminal justice, to speed up proceedings by colluding with prosecutors and defense lawyers. He was considered a judge that is a 'tough dog' ("Judge Mercyless"). On the other hand, Brixner demanded in interviews from legislators to abolish lifelong condemnation and introduce temporary sentences of up to 40 years imprisonment instead.

Brixner retired by the end of June 2008.

Otto Brixner was married to Christa Brixner, born as Christa Hofbauer (1946-2013). The couple has two children and four grandchildren. Brixner is living in Herzogenaurach. He is a lieutenant colonel in reserve.

Main trial against Gustl Mollath and conviction

Main article: Gustl Mollath

In September 2003, Gustl Mollath was accused of dangerous bodily injury and false imprisonment to the detriment of his then wife to a criminal case before Nuremberg District Court chaired by the recently acting judge Armin Eberl. Mollath did not notice two specific appointments for an outpatient assessment of his state of mind in 2003. In mid-2004 and again in early 2005, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital for a psychiatric report by court order instructed. In the meantime 2004 took place divorce. At the end of 2005 came against Mollath to the existing reproaches of the accusation of damage to property in the form of the cutting of 129 tires. In February 2006, based on the report, the Mollath as homicidala decision on his temporary placement.

Under the chairmanship of Brixner, the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court pronounced Mollath in August 2006 Insanity free, as it deems the deeds proven, but the "Cancellation of control capability [...] according to Template:German law section StGB [...] could not be ruled out. " Instead of a punishment was the forensic in a closed psychiatric facility, as - according to the court - further danger of Mollath emanated. Mollath has in the opinion of the court a "paranoides Thought system ". This partly in the conviction that his former wife as an employee of the HypoVereinsbank into a complex system of black money shift was involved.

Mollath had presented the court, as proof of his black-money allegations, with a 106-page folder with receipts to accounts in Switzerland and other evidence documents. In his interrogation before the committee of inquiry of the Bavarian state parliament said Brixner on 17 May 2013 that he had never read this folder.

It says in: "The Case of Mollath: A Chronicle of Events" from 1. March 2018: "Judge Otto Brixner, who spoke Mollath's verdict, stated that he did not read a Mollath defense at all." "I do not read 110 pages", so his answer. Elsewhere, he said he did not know this work."

An internal audit report of Hypovereinsbank from 2003 However, it supports much of Mollath's black money allegations. However, this report had been kept secret by the bank for many years, so that it was not known to the district court of Nuremberg-Fürth in its ruling in 2006. In November 2012, the content of the audit report came to the public. The report stated that all of Mollath's verifiable allegations were accurate.

The revelations to Gustl Mollath and Otto Brixner resulted in a committee of inquiry in the Bavarian state parliament. Am 27. July 2013 demonstrated in Nuremberg 500 people for the rehabilitation of Gustl Mollath. A possible pardon by the Bavarian Prime Minister was not enough for most of them. In addition to demands for reforms in psychiatry and justice, it was required to hold those responsible to account. Above all, the former judge Otto Brixner was named. In its final report, the committee of inquiry stated that it was refusing to punish Brixner. This met with incomprehension in large parts of the populationon.

Allegations against Otto Brixner in connection with the Mollath Case

Litigation

He participated in the judgment against Mollath in 2006 juror Karl-Heinz Westenrieder reported in a TV interview that the presiding judge Otto Brixner had interrupted the defendant Gustl Mollath each time loudly and threatened with a reference to the room if he was the subject tax evasion and black money shift have addressed. Literally, Brixner, addressed to Mollath, had shouted: "If you keep this up, you'll never come out again" (This meant the closed psychiatry department). A listener of trial described Brixner as very uncontrolled and angry. Brixner had shouted at Mollath for over eight hours without interruption. In addition, eyewitnesses at the trial reported that Brixner had acted like a "dictator." Editors of the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that, when you call Otto Brixner, you have to be prepared to barely speak one sentence to the end. He appears in a very harsh tone. The background of this were the personal experiences of the editors during a telephone call to Brixner.

Possible bias

The former judge Brixner was as a result of media research partiality accused.

In mid-April 2013, Brixner confirmed that Martin Maske, the future husband of Gustl Mollath's former wife Petra, was already dating her in the period of the 2006 criminal lawsuit. In 1980, Brixner was the handball coach of Maske. Brixner kept it secret during the entire criminal proceedings.

According to a subsequent written statement before the committee of inquiry in the Parliament the 2006 in the criminal trial Mollath Associate judge a. D. Heinemann had met Maske and Mollaths former wife Petra with Brixner at the trial against Mollath and talked to each other, which contradicts the statement of Martin Maske, since the early 1980s, no contact with Brixner had. On 5 July 2013, Brixner acknowledged the possibility that during the criminal proceedings in 2006 a meeting with Martin Maske might have taken place.

On 4 July 2013, jury member Karl-Heinz Westenrieder told Report Mainz Brixner before, during the criminal proceedings internally among the judges and lay judges himself to have spoken of his possible bias.

Denial of the right to be heard / falsification of the facts

Mollath's later lawyer Gerhard Strate In his application for reimbursement, inter alia, alleged that Brixner had determined the appointment of the court on his own initiative, refrained from hearing the accused and operated a willful falsification of the facts with the documentary material available to him. Strate appealed in advance for a possible retrial, in particular to a blog entry the former prosecutor Gabriele Wolff according to which there had been some evidence of tainting with regard to the tainting of the tires, without which at most the standard of proof of a presumption would have been reached. Brixner was also repeatedly criticized for never having taken note of the 106-page folder provided by Mollath with exculpatory evidence. The outrage against Brixner was ignited by the fact that it is the fundamental obligation of all German courts to take full note of the case of the litigants. This arises from the fundamental right to be heard out Art.   103 Abs. 1 Basic Law.

Influence on the financial administrationion

Brixner is also already in the run-up to the criminal proceedings in a telephone conversation with the financial management caused Mollath's allegations concerning the black money allegations to be discontinued by the tax investigation authorities.