Criminal Proceedings
Criminal Proceedings
Criminal Defense Lawyer Munich
Attorney for Criminal Law Munich
Most people are completely unprepared for their first and hopefully last encounter with criminal law. One thing is certain: as a person affected by criminal proceedings, the role of accused or “just” witness is never pleasant. Letters from the police, public prosecutors and courts often leave more questions unanswered than they answer – the same usually applies to personal encounters with law enforcement authorities.
An additional problem is that the police, public prosecutors and courts have to fulfil their state mandate and are therefore completely unsuitable as contact persons for your own interests as a person affected! Only your lawyer is fully committed to your rights and interests as a client and is subject to a comprehensive duty of confidentiality.
Criminal proceedings
Anyone can be confronted with criminal proceedings at any time.
Most people are completely unprepared for their first and hopefully last encounter with criminal law. One thing is certain: as a person affected by criminal proceedings, the role of accused or even “just” a witness is never pleasant. Letters from the police, public prosecutors and courts often leave more questions unanswered than they answer – the same usually applies to personal meetings with law enforcement authorities.
An additional problem is that the police, public prosecutors and courts have to fulfil their state mandate and are therefore completely unsuitable as contact persons for your own interests as the person affected! Only your lawyer is fully committed to your rights and interests as a client and is subject to a comprehensive duty of confidentiality.
Take criminal proceedings seriously
Reports and police investigations must always be taken very seriously, if only because of the significant consequences that can arise (keyword: certificate of good conduct, entry bans to other countries, pre-trial detention, long prison sentences, etc.) – but the criminal proceedings also pose serious problems for witnesses and victims of crimes (e.g. exercising witness rights, accusation of giving false testimony)
The outcome in criminal law is almost always open!
The strictly formalized criminal procedure rules (and thus also the rights of the accused or witness obligations) remain completely incomprehensible to the “average citizen” in terms of their concrete interpretation and application.
The path through criminal proceedings is difficult for everyone affected, and the outcome of the proceedings is always of great importance on the one hand, but almost always very open on the other.
As a suspect of serious charges such as economic, official, violent or sexual crimes, one can quickly find one’s existence completely destroyed without the necessary legal expertise and the necessary experience in dealing with the justice system and the media, so a well-considered and effective defense strategy that takes all the specifics of the individual case into account is of the utmost importance – the same applies to victims / injured parties of serious crimes.
All of this applies particularly to the sometimes extremely complex proceedings before the regional court, but also to the public prosecutor’s investigation, since the order for a search or pre-trial detention can quickly endanger one’s professional and private future. In addition, experience has shown that prejudgment by the investigating authorities, but also by the media, is particularly pronounced in criminal law. The supposedly “neutral” public prosecutor’s office often tries to stir up sentiment against the person concerned by providing one-sided advance information from the indictment, thereby increasing the pressure on him even further. Here it is particularly important for the accused to have an experienced, competent and assertive criminal defense attorney at his side from the outset in order to counteract negative developments at an early stage and to build an effective line of defense.
Active criminal defense requires experienced trial lawyers
Whether first instance or appeal against a district court judgment – the main hearing before the criminal court requires not only a specialist in the respective area of law; the outcome of the proceedings depends above all on the trial experience, conflict resolution skills and criminal procedural skills of the criminal defense attorney. To have the best possible chance of success, an experienced trial lawyer is therefore essential (if necessary in addition).
Unfortunately, many lawyers with little trial experience and/or a willingness to confront often misjudge the risks and opportunities of a criminal trial. In a German criminal court, you often do not meet on equal terms from the start but have to fight – sometimes very confrontationally – for the client’s criminal procedural rights.
The court process in criminal law is conducted in a strictly inquisitorial manner and is enforced with very strict sanctions and response options (coercive measures to enforce the obligation of the accused and witnesses to be present; searches of the accused, witnesses or third parties; seizure and securing of evidence; pre-trial detention; sentencing to long prison terms). The real interest of the victims of a crime or the question of their interest in criminal prosecution sometimes takes a back seat.
Due to the massive legal consequences for the accused, but also the burdens that lie beyond the proceedings, criminal proceedings have enormous potential for conflict, which a criminal defense attorney must be able to handle not only legally but also emotionally. In criminal law, a favorable outcome of the proceedings depends on the defense attorney’s criminal procedural skills and experience and thus also on his or her resilience.
Without contemporary expertise in criminal procedural law, exceptional negotiation management and assertive conflict resolution skills, you can – in the worst case – literally “defend” your client into prison and deprive him of the chance of a better court decision in the next higher instance.
More opponents than allies
Even a comprehensive view of all those involved in the criminal proceedings shows that the accused is faced with a sheer overwhelming number of opponents, starting with the public prosecutor as the prosecutor, the real or alleged victims, often represented as co-plaintiffs, and their lawyers, through to forensic experts and ultimately the court itself.
People without regular contact with criminal law usually greatly overestimate the impartiality and openness to results of the police, the public prosecutor, but especially the court. A dangerous misjudgment! Because by determining an accused, bringing charges and opening the main court proceedings, the police, the public prosecutor and also the responsible professional judges make it very clear that, based on the files, they consider a conviction of the accused to be predominantly likely – otherwise the public prosecutor’s charges must not be admitted to the main court proceedings!
The hopes for a positive outcome of the proceedings due to the neutrality of the court, true to the motto: “the court will see it differently”, should therefore realistically not be set too high. On the contrary, the defense should, as part of a conservative assessment of the situation, see all members of the court as potential opponents. The trial lawyer must therefore not only deal with the public prosecutor and any co-plaintiffs and experts, but also – depending on the composition of the court – with up to 3 professional judges and 2 lay judges, sometimes in a very confrontational manner.
With all this purely quantitative superiority of procedural opponents, it must also be noted that judges and public prosecutors are usually far superior to “normal” lawyers in terms of practical experience in court.
While most lawyers often deal with a large number of out-of-court, purely advisory cases, sometimes in other areas of law, public prosecutors and criminal judges are naturally only active in the area of criminal law and spend significantly more time in court proceedings than even some experienced criminal defense lawyers. Of course, the time “served” in court is not the same as useful experience – what matters most here is quick and appropriate action and reaction in a conflict-ridden situation.
Overall, however, even a lawyer who has long specialized exclusively in criminal law will rarely be able to demonstrate greater practical experience than that of a long-standing public prosecutor or criminal judge.
Even common sense tells us that a criminal trial under the circumstances described does not offer a balanced starting point. In important or difficult cases, it is therefore essential to have a lawyer who specializes exclusively in defense in order to be able to meet the public prosecutor and the court on an equal footing.
Conflict and confrontation
Criminal defense is a fight for the best possible result – whether acquittal, dismissal of proceedings or an appropriate punishment, taking into account all procedural and external procedural disadvantages, legal problems or private consequences. Of course, no one should feel compelled to confess to a crime they did not commit – but even in other constellations, a confession-based defense, which often goes hand in hand with a procedural agreement (so-called deal), is not always effective – at least not if there is a reasonable prospect of a different assessment of the facts of the case, e.g. because the crime(s) cannot be proven with the certainty required for a conviction, problematic legal issues exist or there are many other reasons that suggest that a better result can be achieved for the client than would be possible within the framework of a deal or confession.
However, an effective defense often requires a rigorous implementation of the client’s legal position. Incorrect orders from a court cannot then simply be accepted without objection, judges must then refuse due to bias or requests must be made to take evidence in an ongoing case. Although this seems completely obvious, many criminal defense lawyers shy away from such an open conflict in order not to be seen as a so-called “conflict defense lawyer” by the courts and their own lawyer colleagues. In the eyes of many, such behavior is seen as a mere form of troublemaking, just to delay the conviction of the client. However, we see the most fundamental task of a lawyer as providing his client with access to justice and protecting him from wrong judicial decisions! In criminal law in particular, the outcome is often open, especially when actual facts, such as those relevant to evidence, are not clear, physical evidence is lacking or witnesses give contradictory statements. From a legal point of view, legal problems can often arise that lead to a completely different result in the end.
Of course, after a comprehensive analysis of the case, it can also make sense to shorten a lengthy procedure by agreeing to a procedural agreement or, in obvious cases, to reduce the sentence by cooperating with the law enforcement authorities and confessing. However, this cannot and must not be the norm if one does not want to give up one’s right to a fair, objective and constitutional trial. Where necessary, constructive, legal conflict must be sought and endured. The main task of the defense attorney cannot therefore be to embrace the court and the public prosecutor and to see the verdict agreement as his actual domain. After all, there are conflicting interests between a prosecutor’s indictment aimed at conviction and a defense seeking acquittal or a significantly lesser sentence.
Our law firm has therefore made it its mission not to submit to the will of the court, but to fight when necessary – with all the criminal procedural means available to do so. The point is not to be as disrespectful or cheeky as possible, but – quite the opposite – to convince the court with intellect, experience and strategy on an equal footing.
Interrogation techniques and statement psychology
Witness evidence continues to play the most important role in criminal proceedings – despite the fact that From a scientific point of view, it has long been established that witnesses are the most unreliable evidence of all. But very often the court has no choice but to rely on witness statements because other evidence is simply not available.
When questioning witnesses, many questions are unanswered from the outset: What did witnesses really see? What do they think they saw? What are their own conclusions, which are not necessarily correct? What have they already forgotten and replaced with fantasy or supposedly reliable information from third parties, the police or media reports? Do they have a personal interest in the outcome of the case? Were they influenced or did they even collude?
Witnesses often prove to be unreliable during such questioning and are often full of surprises – whether to the advantage or disadvantage of the accused! Accordingly, the defense attorney must be able to adapt to very significant imponderables during the witness interview at lightning speed and change his strategy immediately if necessary.
In every potentially problematic but also promising constellation, the trial attorney must know immediately how and within what legal options he can approach the witness without violating the strict rules of questioning technique. At the same time, the defense attorney must compare the witness’s statement made in court with the file and, in the process, also analyze important psychological factors such as the origin of the statement, the validity of the statement, the ability to give information, the personality of the statement, the quality of the statement, possible confounding and possible motives for the statement.
Only an experienced and trained defense attorney will generally be able to check the respective content of the statement for logical consistency, structural similarity, level of detail, descriptions of interactions and complications in the course of action, as well as for differences in the level of detail of peripheral events and core content, and to effectively point out such deficiencies to the court.
At the same time, the defense attorney must also counteract the court’s regular prejudices: These include, in particular, anticipated typifications (“the guilty defendant in the dock”), subjective prejudices and stereotypes (“he’s one of those!”), moral concepts and social conventions (“you just don’t do something like that!”), gross generalizations and subjective opinions (“everyone is guilty of fraud anyway”).
Finally, it is important to shield your own client as efficiently as possible from the court’s antipathies and to clearly distinguish him as an individual from the defense attorney’s behavior, which is usually perceived as disruptive.
Net with a double bottom: defense against appeals
When it comes to taking action against a judgment that has already been passed or keeping all options for a successful appeal open in a district court case, it is essential to have a lawyer specializing in appeals at your side. In order to overturn judgments that are too harsh or simply wrong, very specific expertise is required in German criminal procedural law, given the strict formal criteria and overstretched obligation to complain. It is not for nothing that the appeal (against judgments of a regional court) is referred to as the supreme discipline of criminal law.
Appeal defense during the first instance proceedings:
Our particular strength lies in preparing for a possible appeal during the defense in the first instance, especially for a promising appeal. In view of the very limited possibilities for appeal, especially in regional court proceedings, we believe this is even a duty, because even in a constitutional state, there is no protection against wrong decisions. In this respect, any complaints / objections / requests for evidence must be made in good time in order to be taken into account in subsequent proceedings. At the same time, grounds for appeal can also be created very specifically during the court proceedings, which significantly improve the chances of successfully challenging the judgment in the appeal instance.
Appeal defense against judgments already passed:
If a judgment has already been passed, it is generally advisable to appeal to the next higher court. Depending on the initial situation, not only the judgment as a whole, but also individual parts of the judgment or “only” the amount of the sentence can be successfully contested. Experience shows that with an effective defense, the chances of a better result are high. This is particularly true for the legal remedy of appeal.
In the case of an appeal, only legal errors can be complained about, i.e. no new evidence is collected (e.g. witnesses are questioned again, further expert opinions are obtained, etc.). The only chance of a positive decision is to find judicial errors, e.g. in the application of the law, in the course of the trial or in the sentencing, which is why the experience and specialist knowledge of the lawyer are crucial in the appeal.
Specialist knowledge and experience
Especially in the so-called supreme discipline of criminal law, the appeal, very specific specialist knowledge and scientific expertise are required, because complex and/or hidden errors in criminal procedural and/or substantive law must be found and formally correct. At the same time, the criminal defense attorney has very little time (just 1 month) to prepare a convincing and well-founded appeal.
Due to the statutory deadline, the lawyer has no opportunity to first deal with the legalities of the appeal; he must know them “by heart”. With our academic lawyers Dr. Baumhöfener and Dr. Betz, we have two appeal specialists in our team who, by virtue of their profession, have to deal with the numerous special problems of current criminal law innovations in doctrine and case law, for which there is simply no time in the everyday practice of the “normal” lawyer. At the same time, our law firm handles an above-average number of appeals due to our proven specialization in criminal procedural remedies, so that our experience in case processing helps us achieve above-average results.
More defense attorneys, more success: Defending as a team
Especially in large, extensive and complex proceedings before the In the regional court, team defense – i.e. the simultaneous representation of more than one lawyer – has become an indispensable factor for the success of our law firm.
If a prison sentence and/or great public interest are threatened in capital, sexual or violent crimes, in detention cases or in commercial proceedings with high financial losses, the accused is usually faced with an overwhelming number of procedural opponents who are also usually biased against him: the judicial conviction rate in Germany is well over 80%.
In addition, if you are convicted by a regional court, you actually have no second chance to have the facts and evidence reviewed in full by the next higher court: in the appeal instance, only legal errors can be complained about, but no new evidence can be presented.
The pressure that this puts on the accused and thus also on his lawyer is enormous. In addition, a sufficient defense is much more difficult given the very limited legal remedies against district court judgments, as errors by the court must be recognized early on, legal subtleties used and media influences skillfully countered.
True to the motto “Four eyes see more than two”, you do not have to limit yourself to a single lawyer / defense attorney in criminal proceedings!
Probably for the reasons mentioned above, the law allows an accused / defendant to be defended simultaneously by up to three lawyers of his choice – plus any public defender appointed by the court.
And that makes perfect sense: This way, the imbalance in relation to the other parties to the trial can be balanced out. In addition, a team can question witnesses with much more force (keyword: “cross-examination”), identify formal and legal errors by the court much more effectively and protect the client and his legal positions more efficiently. During the taking of evidence in court proceedings, several defense attorneys can submit applications, object to procedural actions, prepare statements and compare new findings with the factual and legal situation at the same time.
Accordingly, a team defense requires a structured distribution of tasks, which is why the team should ideally not be thrown together, but should be precisely coordinated with one another and according to the individual areas of expertise.
In suitable cases, a selection of lawyers from different firms with different focuses is also effective. Specialized areas such as commercial, medical, sexual and tax criminal law require special subject-specific knowledge, the enforcement of which in criminal proceedings can only be ensured by an experienced trial lawyer – especially with regard to criminal legal remedies, the promising foundations for which must be created in the first trial.
There are also situations where an experienced local lawyer knows the case, the client and the court very well, but seeks the support of an external specialist for specialist questions in a legal specialty or in a major trial in order to be optimally positioned for the defense.
And that is precisely what we guarantee our clients: whether an appeals specialist, an expert in commercial criminal law, in sexual criminal law or an experienced litigation lawyer for confrontational defense – all of our lawyers can be deployed specifically for the relevant case according to their respective specializations – whether in a well-rehearsed law firm team or together with other lawyers and specialists.
We are regularly commissioned by clients and colleagues on site to optimally set up a new defense team or to sufficiently strengthen an existing team.
Criminal defense almost always means fighting determinedly
Whether acquittal, dismissal of proceedings or an appropriate sentence – the best results require unconditional commitment to the client’s legal position.
Because in criminal proceedings there is no winning by giving in! The most fundamental task of a criminal defense attorney is to give his client access to the law and to protect him from wrong judicial decisions. In criminal law in particular, the outcome is open, especially when facts relevant to the evidence are not clear, physical evidence is lacking or witnesses give contradictory statements. From a legal point of view, legal problems can often arise that ultimately lead to a completely different result. A defense attorney must therefore have the courage and assertiveness not to accept incorrect orders from a court without objection, to force complex evidence gathering against the will of the court even in ongoing proceedings and to reject biased judges due to concerns about bias. In short: the lawyer must use all criminal procedural and legal means to achieve the best possible result in court!
Although this should actually be considered completely self-evident, many lawyers shy away from such a “confrontational” approach. This is usually justified by the fact that a positive atmosphere in the courtroom can lead to a better result – which is sometimes true: Of course, after a comprehensive analysis of the case, it can also make sense to shorten a lengthy procedure by agreeing to a procedural agreement (so-called deal) or, in obvious cases, to reduce the sentence by cooperating with the law enforcement authorities.
But reducing the work of the defense attorney to pure “judgment support” cannot and must not be the norm if one does not want to give up one’s right to a fair, objective and constitutional trial. Unfortunately, quite a few lawyers who also work in criminal law have settled into this role: some do not want to upset the judges and public prosecutors in order to continue to be appointed as public defenders in the future, others are generally more conflict-averse and do not want to attract negative attention in the main hearing.
We believe this is wrong – especially when there is a reasonable prospect of a different assessment of the facts of the case, e.g. because the charges cannot be proven with the certainty required for a conviction, there are problematic legal questions or there are other diverse reasons that suggest that a better result can be achieved for the client!
In such constellations, despite all consideration of possible procedural and external procedural disadvantages, a confession in defense of the sentence is not at all effective, especially since procedural agreements are only too often “offered” by courts and public prosecutors as a threat to save work and time, not least in view of chronic overload.
It is all the more important for us, especially in cases where the court is stubbornly “convicting” contrary to the actual evidence, to pull out all the stops in the rule of law – even if this can only be achieved with extensive requests for evidence or even requests for bias against the judges hearing the case. Because a proper and effective defense must not shy away from the necessary conflict with the judiciary, but is under no circumstances the same as aggressive actionism! Our success is based on a targeted mixture of necessary severity and clever diplomacy, adapted to the individual case constellation.
However, this often requires a rigorous implementation of the client’s legal position. That is why we are not interested in whether courts – under the guise of “effectiveness of criminal proceedings” and “protection of victims” – already perceive any defense aimed at acquittal as “unreasonable”. The liberal democratic system of values is based largely on the presumption of innocence and the fundamental right to a fair trial, and not – as unfortunately often seems to be the case in judicial practice – “in case of doubt AGAINST the accused”!
Because what many people do not know: The judicial conviction rate in Germany is well over 80%. Especially in trials where there is a high expectation of punishment and/or great public interest, a particularly high degree of prejudgment by the public, the media and, unfortunately, also by the court can be observed. Naive trust in a positive outcome is unfortunately misplaced.
Our law firm has made it its mission to exploit all legal options in criminal proceedings with committed, serious and expert expertise and to develop highly effective defense strategies that target the typical weak points of the justice system. Because one must not fail to recognize that criminal law means a lot, if not everything, for the person affected – after all, no other area of law has such severe sanctions, up to and including life imprisonment.
No other area of law has so much discretionary power, if one considers the broad legal consequences that criminal proceedings provide for: from the discontinuance of proceedings (with or without a fine), to the written penal order procedure, to the non-opening of proceedings, acquittal, warning, waiver of punishment or prison sentences of a few months to many years – with or without probation;
The outcome in criminal law therefore depends largely on choosing the right lawyer.
Success with the right specialist
We have made it our mission – where necessary – to seek constructive, legal conflict and to fight resolutely with all legal means available to us.
It is often overlooked that there is a great deal of discretion in criminal law, especially if one considers the broad legal consequences, from the discontinuance of proceedings and the waiver of punishment, to mere fines and monetary penalties, to acquittal or probation – instead of prison sentences.
In hardly any other area of law can the course be set as decisively by the lawyer as in criminal law!
As a law firm specializing exclusively in criminal law, we offer the optimal defense strategy for every criminal matter.
However, this often requires a rigorous implementation of the client’s legal position.
In criminal law in particular, the outcome is almost always open, especially when facts relevant to the evidence are not clear, physical evidence is lacking or witnesses give contradictory statements. From a legal point of view, legal problems can often arise which can lead to a completely different result in the end.
Criminal proceedings
