Overview
- A 46-year-old Dutch man is charged with negligent homicide and gang-like narcotics trafficking.
- Prosecutors allege he belonged to a group that concealed liquid MDMA in champagne bottles and handled storage, transport and sales abroad.
- The case centers on a Feb. 13, 2022 incident in a Weiden restaurant where eight people drank from a manipulated bottle, resulting in one death and several life-threatening injuries.
- Defense lawyers rejected the allegations at the opening, citing stolen bottles that entered the market and asserting the accused rented a different storage compartment.
- In early testimony the defendant portrayed himself as a partygoing entrepreneur and denied responsibility for the fatal bottle as the court begins taking evidence.