Overview
- The Dortmund local court, which issued its decision Tuesday, found the 21-year-old guilty of negligent homicide and ordered two years on probation with a three-year driving ban.
- The judge rejected the prosecution’s call for adult sentencing and a two-year-ten-month prison term as unnecessary for his education.
- Blood tests showed cannabis use on the day of the crash, and experts estimated an impact speed between 70 and 90 km/h in a tuned BMW.
- Investigators said the car ran a red light that had been red for about five seconds as an 11-year-old crossed on green, and his 15-year-old sister was also hit and suffered a broken foot.
- The ruling is not final, and German law allows courts to apply juvenile rules up to age 21 in serious driving cases that raise wider concerns about deterrence.