Prince Ernst August of Hanover seeks retrial in assault case

[socialbuddafly]

Wow I don't know much about Prince Ernst August but after reading that article he seems to have a temper...

[Horseygal]

Unfortunately, there are plenty of pictures of him reacting badly to the paparazzi, so this doesn't sound out of the realm of possibilty of truth....sad, embarassing time for them.....

[Bones]

I am certainly no big fan of Prince Ernst, but this case never passed the smell test with me. The whole thing seemed like someone exaggerating their mistreatment to cash-in on a prince with a history of bad behavior the courts would be inclined to rule against. From what I know of retail the customer is always right and the good businessman will try to make the customer happy. The Prince was upset because his experience was not what was agreed upon, he admits and Princess Caroline testified that he did slap the man, but that's a far cry from being seriously injured with brass knuckles & all that -sounds to me like that stuff and the 'serious injuries' were trumped up after the fact, then the case was taken to Germany where I think the accuser thought the results would be better and all that to make an easy buck off a wealthy prince with a bad reputation. Again, certainly not fan of Ernst August, but I don't think he's been dealt with fairly in this instance.

[Thecia]

Didn't the prosecutor admit in the closing arguments that Brunlehner exaggerated the injuries? I think I read that in one of the articles. The charge given by the judge was intentional bodily harm, with no mention of brass knuckles and I'm sure he took Ernst's previous "indiscretions" into account as well - which he has to. I certainly think the fine is a little steep but it won't hurt Ernst. We all know that he's not exactly strapped for cash and the fees for the lawyers and everything probably cost more. Most judicial systems aren't to do with justice, they're to do with law (please excuse the politicised comment ) and let's face it - a judge isn't really going to consider Caroline's testimony the most reliable, because of the rather obvious bias. I'm not saying Caroline would commit perjury, but the judge has to take things like this into account. The most reliable testimony (unless there were other witnesses - the incident was at a party wasn't it?) would in fact be Josef Brunlehner's. Not exactly fair, but it's the truth. Besides, he can always appeal again.