The assault conviction of footballer Jerome Boateng for an alleged attack on his ex-girlfriend in 2018 was nullified by a German court on Thursday, prompting the initiation of a new trial.
In an ongoing legal journey marked by its third ruling, the Munich Superior Regional Court has ruled in favour of Boateng’s appeal, that of his purported victim, and the state prosecutors. The decision cites procedural mistakes.
‘The responsible tribunal will begin again with the taking of evidence,’ the court said in a statement.
Should the court align with the complainant, the impending trial may lead to a more substantial punishment than the 1.2-million-euro ($1.3-million) fine imposed on Boateng in November 2022.
In 2021, Boateng was found culpable for physically assaulting and verbally demeaning his former partner, who is also the mother of his twin daughters, during a Caribbean getaway that occurred half a decade ago.
From the outset, the footballer had vehemently denied the accusations and had been actively striving for acquittal through the appeals process.
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Last November, the Munich district court confirmed his guilt but modified the initial fine, which had been determined using the defendant’s net income as a basis, reducing it from 1.8 million euros to 1.2 million euros.
In the original trial, Boateng’s ex-partner testified that the 2014 World Cup victor for Germany had physically struck her, causing a momentary loss of breath during an intense argument.
This incident unfolded shortly after the World Cup in Russia, with Boateng having been part of the German squad that experienced a group-stage exit.
Boateng’s former partner described how he ‘pressed against my eye with his thumb, bit me in the head and pulled me to the floor by my hair’.
She said the now 35-year-old repeatedly insulted her and hit her on the back with ‘one strong punch and several light punches’.
In the most recent appeals, the Munich court supported Boateng’s legal team’s assertion that one of their claims of bias had been unfairly adjudicated, given the involvement of a judge they had already objected to.
However, it also upheld the argument put forth by the plaintiff and prosecutors, who asserted that the penalty given by the lower court to Boateng for flinging a cooler bag at his former partner had been inadequate.
Boateng was a part of Bayern Munich, a major German club, for ten years before he signed with Lyon in France in 2021. Currently, he is not associated with any club.