Fernandes against Ulmen: Serious allegations made

FOCUS online spoke about the case with the renowned criminal lawyer Alexander Stevens (44) from Munich. The lawyer is considered a specialist in sexual criminal law and has accompanied many relevant proceedings in court. Stevens is very critical of developments in this matter.

“Fundamental principles of the rule of law are currently being undermined – above all the presumption of innocence. This principle is not there to protect the guilty. It is there to not destroy the innocent. None of us have spoken to those involved. Nobody has looked at material evidence. Everything we know comes from media reports – from a single perspective,” said the top lawyer.

Attorney Stevens: “Destruction without trial”

Nevertheless, Stevens complains that ProSieben has already removed all episodes of the successful series “Jerks” from its media library. “Like Luke Mockridge, whose case for alleged rape was later dropped.” The lawyer speaks of “professional and social destruction without charge, without trial and without judgment.”

The impression that Christian Ulmen can hardly do anything about his previous conviction is not necessarily correct. “He is not defenseless,” believes the lawyer. “The social mood is increasingly critical of the mechanism of public condemnation,” Stevens told FOCUS online. “The past has taught us to be suspicious.”

These cases show that one should be careful with prejudgment

As an example he gives:

• the proceedings against him Weather presenter Jörg Kachelmann, whom the Mannheim regional court acquitted of allegations of serious rape in 2011,
• the 2016 verdict against the Influencer Gina-Lisa Lohfink, who falsely accused two men of raping her,
• the allegations of abuse against Rammstein singer Till Lindemann, for which there was ultimately no sufficient suspicion, which is why the investigation was discontinued in 2023,
• the case of Comedians Luke Mockridge, who allegedly raped his ex-girlfriend during their relationship, which was not true; the public prosecutor discontinued the proceedings.

Alexander Stevens to FOCUS online: “The list of cases in which the tabloids and leading media pointed in one direction with maximum volume – and something completely different turned out afterwards – is long. Too long to be ignored. Anyone who reads a headline today no longer reads it naively. He reads it with the knowledge that he was already wrong because he believed a headline.”

“The public process has already started”

When asked whether Ulmen could even hope for a fair trial given the extensive reporting, Stevens said: “The public trial has already taken place – the verdict has been handed down before a judge has even opened a file. We have no illusions about that.” But the legal process is still pending and it is not taking place in Germany, but in Spain.

“Fernandes has filed a complaint in the district court of Palma de Mallorca. Since the couple last lived in Spain and the crime is located there, the crime scene is primarily Spain – Spanish law, Spanish courts.” The Munich lawyer believes that this has certain advantages for Ulmen.

Proceedings in Spain “sober, without outraged public”

“Christian Ulmen is not known to anyone in Spain. The Spanish media is not interested in him. No investigator in Palma reads German headlines. The investigation can proceed as it should: soberly, based on files, without the background noise of an outraged public.”

However, Stevens restricts, German law enforcement could also be responsible for sub-complexes that may have taken place in Germany. “A parallel procedure is conceivable – but as long as Spain is actively investigating, Germany will generally take a back seat.”

Regarding the question of the sentence that Ulmen could expect in the event of an indictment and conviction, Stevens explained: “I speak exclusively for German law – and with an important preliminary remark: What is circulating in the media under keywords such as ‘virtual rape’ or ‘identity abuse’ is not recognized in this form by German criminal law.”

What are the penalties if convicted?

What would actually be considered:

• Violation of the most personal sphere of life through image recordings, including deepfakes: up to two years in prison.
• Insults: fine up to a maximum of two years in prison.
• Assault: up to five years in prison.

“Even if he were convicted on all counts, the realistic sentence for an offender with no previous conviction would be in the range of a fine to probation,” the expert told FOCUS online. “It’s a far cry from the apocalyptic scenarios of some media.”

Alexander Stevens points out that it There is no automatic mitigation of punishment for media prejudgment in German law. “But the social consequences suffered definitely flow into the sentencing.” The lawyer: “If Ulmen has already lost a significant part of his professional existence as a result of the reporting – series deleted, advertising contracts terminated, reputation destroyed – an experienced defense lawyer can argue this as a de facto pre-execution of the sentence.”

What happens if no proceedings are opened?

And Stevens addresses another point in an interview with FOCUS online: “If the preliminary investigations are stopped or if charges are never brought, there is no claim for compensation from the state.” What Ulmen can enforce, however, are press law claims for injunctive relief, counter-notification and, if necessary, compensation for breach of duty of care when reporting suspicions. “Ulmen’s lawyers have already opened this channel,” he says.

If in the end the allegations made by Collien Fernandes under oath turn out to be incorrect, “she will be liable to prosecution for making false statements on oath – and Ulmen would have civil claims for damages for defamation and damage to her reputation,” says Alexander Stevens.