A court has already dealt with the allegations of violence made by Jérôme Boateng’s ex-girlfriend against the football world champion three times. Now the trial is moving into the next round. Day 2 of the trial in Munich in the ticker protocol.
10:22 a.m.: She and Vanessa W. then stopped playing and pulled out their Haneys. “I then opened a website and opened an article about an ex of Jerome’s, an affair, and talked to Vanessa. Then Jerome came back and sat down again and heard us talking about his affair. ‘Are you trying to provoke me, are you stirring up trouble against me?’ he said. I denied it. When he said it wasn’t as it was portrayed in the media, I asked how he knew that if he had no contact with her at all.”
10.19 a.m.: Vanessa W. accused Boateng of cheating, which he denied. Vanessa W. exposed him – but he continued to deny it. “He said she was lying. I said he does that often. Then he stood up and got louder and louder. He got worked up. Then he said he didn’t feel like it anymore and ran towards his bungalow behind the pool.”
10:16 a.m.: Now it’s about the evening in question. They ate, then went back to the hotel, put the children to bed and wanted to play cards. In the lobby they played the card game Skip-Bo. “We waited for Mr. M., but he didn’t come.” Boateng then laid down two cards one after the other, sitting a little way away from her, across a corner of the same bench. Vanessa W. sat opposite Boateng.
10.13 a.m.: Now the witness, Shirin S., is supposed to describe what it was like before they flew to the Caribbean in 2018. “We were a couple at the time, it was after the World Cup in Russia. It was clear that the vacation could only take place after the tournament, so it was all a bit of back and forth. He asked me if he could take a friend with him, Christian M.” She took a friend with her, Vanessa W.
10.11 a.m.: “I absolutely want to bring this case to an end,” announces the judge. Now the witness, Boateng’s ex-partner, comes into the courtroom.
10.09 a.m.: On February 10, 2021, one day after her suicide, Lenhardt’s lawyer received information that there were relevant data and photos on her cell phone. The case was therefore resubmitted.
Today, only Boateng’s ex-girlfriend was actually summoned, but the lady who was on holiday with them in the Caribbean will also be questioned today because she cannot be there on June 28. “But I cannot negotiate until the early evening hours,” says Hemmerich. She is therefore prepared to accept a certain delay. So several interviews are scheduled for today – it will be a long day in court.
10.07 a.m.: Now the judge is talking about the case involving Kasia Lenhardt – she has obtained the files. “The chat history between Ms. Lenhardt and Ms. S. is also included in them,” she says.
10:04 a.m.: Judge Susanne Hemmerich is here! First, she announces that the judges from the last two cases will testify in the following week. Boateng’s address will also be checked.
09:59: Jerome Boateng is here! In the courtroom, photos are taken of the defendant, who is standing next to his lawyer.
Friday, June 21, 9:50 a.m.: Today is day 2 of the trial against Jerome Boateng. After the shortened trial day at the beginning, his girlfriend at the time, the mother of his twins, is to testify today. She is the victim who is said to have attacked Boateng. In the last trials she was questioned quite harshly – it remains to be seen how that will be today.
Thursday, June 20, 9:22 p.m.: The family of Jérôme Boateng’s ex-girlfriend Kasia Lenhardt, who died in 2021, is critical of the football star’s appearance in court in Munich. “In my opinion, words that come from the heart do not need to be written down by lawyers and awkwardly read from a piece of paper,” said Berlin media lawyer Markus Hennig in a statement on behalf of the Lenhardt family.
Boateng’s spokesman replied: “It is normal practice in criminal proceedings for a defendant to organize his words and present them in context.” He added: “In addition, Mr. Boateng was and is available for full questioning by the court and does not limit himself to reading them out.”
12.31 p.m.: And with that the meeting is closed.
12.30 p.m.: While Boateng’s defense attorney and the prosecutor discuss witnesses and possible respect or disrespect for Judge Hemmerich, the latter can only shake her head.
12.28 p.m.: The judge is angry. And comes to the conclusion: “Are there any more witnesses we should call?”
12.25 p.m.: And things are escalating in the courtroom! The judge raises her voice several times. Boateng’s lawyer interrupts and the co-plaintiff continues to lash out. The defendant ran to the Bild newspaper first and set everything in motion. “It could all have been over long ago if he had accepted the comparatively mild sentence in 2021. He could have ended the proceedings to protect his children,” said the co-plaintiff.
12.24 p.m.: “What is not recognized is that we are sitting here in the fourth round. I have been here since 2018. We have a direct witness, we have photos, medical records, communication with me. In my opinion, everything is very well proven,” said the co-plaintiff.
12.23 p.m.: Now the representative of the co-plaintiff is speaking out. “A lot of mud was thrown at my client today,” explains the co-plaintiff. “The defense strategy was predictable and uses the same narrative when it comes to domestic violence. The women are all lying, just want money and are vengeful. I hear that again and again.”
According to the defense, Boateng’s ex-girlfriend made it all up, and only filed the complaint to get her custody rights, financial demands, etc. “You actually want to protect your children, you say,” the co-plaintiff said to Boateng. In her view, none of this was necessary.
12.16 p.m.: After a tangle between the judge, prosecutor and defense about which charges were brought when and how, the expert is finally allowed to ask questions. How tall is Boateng? 1.91 meters. How did he get the injury to his lip? She hit him with a right hook upwards and stood up. Boateng then defended himself, stretched his right hand forward and hit his ex-girlfriend “somewhere in the face, I think.”
And as for the shoving – Boateng didn’t see exactly how his ex-girlfriend landed on the ground in the dark. The defense and Boateng do not want to answer questions from the prosecutor.
12.02 p.m.: The court is now showing several short videos that Boateng recorded. Time: one evening after the heated holiday argument in which they beat each other up or one-sidedly, depending on who was right in the end. In the videos, his ex-girlfriend can be seen dancing. With German rap in the background. She is laughing. Obviously having fun.
11.59 a.m.: The prosecutor is having technical problems, and even Boateng quickly shows her which button she has to press to make it work.
11.55 a.m.: How could his ex-girlfriend hit Boateng on the lip? They argued, she left and he followed her. She was sitting, Boateng was leaning over her and shouting at her. Then she got up and hit him on the lip with her elbow. She hit him on the chest and didn’t stop. “She didn’t stop, so I pushed her and she fell on her side,” said Boateng. When she was on the ground, nothing else happened. According to the prosecution, he hit her on the ground. According to Boateng, that didn’t happen.
11.50 a.m.: Curious detail: They had a butler on vacation who even picked up the broken pieces after the argument.
11.46 a.m.: Boateng describes the situation when they were playing cards in July 2018 – shortly before things escalated and the argument broke out. Judge Hemmerich asks exactly: What did the furniture look like? Was there a backrest? Where were they sitting? “The lantern, where was that? And how can I imagine the cooler bag?” It was white on the inside and blue on the outside. Filled with coconut water in a tetra pack, Coke and Fanta in a can.
11.41 a.m.: More tension between Judge Hemmerich and the prosecutor. Pictures of bruises on the face and arms can be seen in the courtroom. The prosecutor contradicts this by saying that these pictures were taken on other days, not in the Caribbean. The next violent picture: a woman wearing a T-shirt with blood spatters on it. The judge asks whether this was taken in the Caribbean. “That’s my T-shirt and that’s my blood from my lip, which she cut open,” says Boateng. So yes, it was taken on vacation.
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