Love-Struck German Judge Turns Blind Eye to Justice
Wearing black robes and being addressed as "Your Honor" apparently doesn't keep people from doing really, really stupid things, as one love-struck German judge recently proved.
No one can blame Wolfgang W. for falling in love. The 63-year-old Munich judge (whose full last name has been withheld for legal reasons) might have been married, but he wouldn't be the first man to leave his wife for a younger woman. What does matter a little in this particular case is that W. met Fatime L. in his courtroom. The 30-year-old Albanian woman was attending the robbery trial of her lover. All that might have kept most people from going further than a friendly smile. The judge, however, pulled out his mobile phone and reportedly began sending the woman explicit text messages such as "I'm kissing you awake" and "Alone with you in bed. I want to drag you into bed before breakfast and sleep with you." He might have gotten away with it all. But then W. withdrew an offer to sentence Fatime's boyfriend to no more than 22 months in prison and asked her to help him decide on the man's jail time. "He should be sent away for longer so that you're at peace or he should be sent to his wife, which might also help," the judge wrote. "It's up to you." That did it for Fatime, who forwarded the messages to her boyfriend's defense lawyer. It shouldn't come as a surprise that court officials accepted her application to remove the judge from the case. W. will have lots of time for text messaging in the future: He faces disciplinary action and charges of abuse of office, which could send him to prison for up to five years.
German
German
Wolfgang W.
Munich
Munich Ludwig_Maximilian_University_of_Munich Munich_(film) München_Hauptbahnhof Bavarian_International_Tennis_Championships Munich_Airport Munich_(district) Munich_Agreement Munich_(song) 1972_Summer_Olympics Bavarian_State_Opera Olympiapark_(Munich) Munich,_North_Dakota Technical_University_of_Munich EHC_Red_Bull_München Academy_of_Fine_Arts,_Munich
W.
Whig_Party_(United_States) Watt W Win_(baseball) W_(magazine) Wounded_in_action Win–loss_record_(pitching) W._(film) Welsh_language West_Region_(WFTDA) Codex_Washingtonianus Winning_percentage W_(TV_series) W_(New_York_City_Subway_service) Tungsten W_(UK_TV_channel)
Fatime L.
Albanian
W.
Whig_Party_(United_States) Watt W Win_(baseball) W_(magazine) Wounded_in_action Win–loss_record_(pitching) W._(film) Welsh_language West_Region_(WFTDA) Codex_Washingtonianus Winning_percentage W_(TV_series) W_(New_York_City_Subway_service) Tungsten W_(UK_TV_channel)
Fatime
Fatime
W.
Whig_Party_(United_States) Watt W Win_(baseball) W_(magazine) Wounded_in_action Win–loss_record_(pitching) W._(film) Welsh_language West_Region_(WFTDA) Codex_Washingtonianus Winning_percentage W_(TV_series) W_(New_York_City_Subway_service) Tungsten W_(UK_TV_channel)
Wolfgang W.
gender::male iptc::02000000 slot::keyword topic::justice type::entity type::judge type::person
Munich
Munich
slot::in slot::keyword topic::none type::entity type::gpe type::gpe2 type::location
Fatime L.
gender::female meta::todo slot::keyword topic::none type::entity type::person
German
topic::none type::gpe0-x type::other
Albanian
topic::none type::gpe0-x type::other
Germany
slot::in
Albania