She was arrested again in 1880 for attempting to open a new bank without having the necessary permits but later released without charges. Spitzeder performed as a folk singer, living off friends and benefactors, but she never left her criminal life completely behind her, resulting in further trials and periods of incarceration. She died of cardiac arrest on 27 or 28 October 1895 in Munich.
Introduction
Adele Spitzeder
Adele Spitzeder | Introduction
She was convicted instead of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money. She was accused of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money. Her Ponzi schemes were not yet illegal, she was convicted instead of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money and sentenced to three years in priso She was convicted of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money and sentenced to three years in prison.
who was adele spitzeder?
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German actress, folk singer, and con artist.
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what was she accused of?
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She was arrested again in 1880 for attempting to open a new bank without having the necessary permits but later released without charges. Spitzeder performed as a folk singer, living off friends and benefactors, but she never left her criminal life completely behind her, resulting in further trials and periods of incarceration. She died of cardiac arrest on 27 or 28 October 1895 in Munich.
Adele Spitzeder | Introduction
Adelheid Luise "Adele" Spitzeder (; 9 February 1832 – 27 or 28 October 1895), also known by her stage name Adele Vio, was a German actress, folk singer, and con artist. Initially a promising young actress, Spitzeder became a well-known private banker in 19th-century Munich when her theatrical success dwindled. Running what was possibly the first recorded Ponzi scheme, she offered large returns on investments by continually using the money of new investors to pay back the previous ones. At the height of her success, contemporary sources considered her the wealthiest woman in Bavaria. Opening her bank in 1869, Spitzeder managed to fend off attempts to discredit her for a few years before authorities were able to bring her to trial in 1872.
Adele Spitzeder | Introduction
After Spitzeder's arrest however, Ehinger disavowed her and denied having any romantic relationship with her. Ehinger even tried to argue that the payment of 50,000 gulden was damages for the reputational damage she suffered because of the rumors about her homosexuality, but she was ordered to repay the sum in full.
Adele Spitzeder | Personal life
Adeleke's lawyer in his defense claims his secondary school hasn't come out to denial his testimonial asking the court to dismiss the Case. The court dismissed the suit stating that the plaintiff could not prove Adeleke's forgery of. Witnesses told court that they didn't see Adeleke in the examination hall. One of the witnesses said he would have recognised him since he is a public figure.
Ademola Adeleke | Certificate scandal
Contemporaneous English-language publications such as "Harper's Weekly" referred to it as the "Spitzeder swindle". In her doctoral thesis, Hannah Davies recounts the case of Johann Baptist Placht, who in 1874 was indicted for running a Ponzi scheme in Vienna and notes that contemporaries compared his business model to Spitzeder's. Unlike Placht and other fraudsters, Spitzeder never made claims of investing the money and explicitly gave no securities, which paradoxically led customers to trust her more. By October 1871, the proprietor of the hotel in which she was living and working was no longer willing to tolerate the customer traffic. Spitzeder moved into the house at No.
Adele Spitzeder | Growth of business
Other conservative Catholic newspapers, especially "Das Bayerische Vaterland" published by Johann Baptist Sigl, also supported her and characterized criticism of Spitzeder as attempts by "Jewish capital" to discredit a pious and hard-working woman, tapping into the widespread antisemitism of the times.
Adele Spitzeder | Public image
After review, only assets corresponding to 15 percent of the investments were recovered. A wave of suicides by people who lost everything followed.
Adele Spitzeder | Bankruptcy and criminal charges
She was arrested on 13 February 1880 with her new companion, Marie Riedmayer, who had cared for her after her release from prison. However, the local prosecutors determined that people who were still willing to give her money after all that had happened did not need to be protected and Spitzeder was released.
Adele Spitzeder | Later life and death
The new General Attorney Emilia Navas reopened the case indicting Arias. Also in 2019 psychiatrist and anti-Nuclear activist Alexandra Arce von Herold formally accused Arias of rape at the Public Ministry. Following her allegation three more women came to light accusing Arias of sexual harassment and misconduct. Arias denied the charges.
Óscar Arias | Judicial accusations
Contemporary reports on the trial pointed to similarities to the case of Adele Spitzeder, who had run a similar business in Munich until November 1872; Spitzeder, however, unlike Placht, never claimed to invest the money people gave her or in fact explained how she intended to make a profit at all. In both cases, the customers were mainly from the lower classes of society.
Johann Baptist Placht | Similar cases
Because Ponzi schemes were not yet illegal, she was convicted instead of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money and sentenced to three years in prison. Her bank was closed and 32,000 people lost 38 million gulden, the equivalent of almost 400 million euros in 2017 money, causing a wave of suicides. Her personal fortune in art and cash was stripped from her. After her release from prison in 1876, Spitzeder lived off benefactors and unsuccessfully tried to act again in Altona and Berlin. She left Germany for Vienna but police there prevented her engagement, so she returned to Munich in 1878 to publish her memoir.
Adele Spitzeder | Introduction
Additionally, 60 customers, organized by rival private banks, visited her residence and demanded all of their money back, which was more than Spitzeder had available, leading to the bank's collapse. Ehinger tried to flee with 50,000 gulden that she claimed was a gift from Spitzeder but both women were arrested and the money seized. Spitzeder's house was closed by the police and soldiers and policemen were placed on the premises to safeguard the remaining items of value and prevent acts of aggression by the populace. During her bank's existence, 32,000 customers were defrauded of 38 million gulden, roughly 400 million euros in 2017 money.
Adele Spitzeder | Bankruptcy and criminal charges
On 7 November 1872, Munich's police also issued a lengthy statement detailing the bank's lack of reliability.
Adele Spitzeder | Clashes with authorities and competition
She lived in Bad Wildbad for ten months where she started writing music for the pianino. She met the director of a theater in Altona who offered her a guest role but she was received negatively. The local "Altonaer Generalanzeiger" newspaper commissioned the production of small whistles which they sold as "Spitzeder-whistles" for people to use at her next performance. Spitzeder however refused to act on the stage in Altona again and left the town for Berlin where people waited in anticipation to see the famous fraudster. However, before she could perform, the Berlin police prevented her performance and forced her to depart the city the same day, so she returned to Munich.
Adele Spitzeder | Later life and death
Spitzeder was released from prison on 9 September 1876 in poor health, being hemiplegic and unable to walk stairs on her own. During and after her stay in prison, those who had profited from her abandoned her and the newspapers that previously defended her made money by publishing exposés about her. However, some former customers, despite their losses, helped her; she found a place to stay with the widow of a judge and was given money. Her doctor prescribed her a stay at the sanatorium in Bad Wildbad where she went at her benefactors' expense. Shortly after arriving, she was surrounded by fans and received publicity in local newspapers.
Adele Spitzeder | Later life and death
In October 2011 Van der Pluijm-Vrede was summoned by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She was summoned after Barney Ivanovic filed charges against her concerning forgery and perverting the course of justice. Ivanovic claimed that on 1 March 2008 he was forced out of the Plaza Hotel in Willemstad, which he claims was his own after he bought it from the Van der Valk hotel chain. He was supposedly threatened under gunpoint by George Jamaloodin, who at the time of the incident was owner of Speedy Security, but at the time of the charges was Minister of Finance of Curaçao.
Adèle van der Pluijm-Vrede | Legal issues
In 2016 Bachmann was charged with incitement of racial hatred. The charges were laid after someone using a Facebook page with Lutz Bachmann's name called refugees "cattle," "scumbags," and "filth" in a Facebook post in 2014. The first day of Bachmann's trial, which was originally planned on being split into three separate days, took place on 19 April 2016. Bachmann's lawyer, Katja Reichel, argued that there are hundreds of Facebook pages with the name Lutz Bachmann on Facebook, and that there was no reason to believe that the Lutz Bachmann being accused was the one who made these comments. State attorney Tobias Uhlemann has pointed out that nothing originating from the Internet would constitute evidence.
Lutz Bachmann | Prosecution
In April 2013, she was convicted for libeling and slandering Manuel Aeschlimann. In September 2013, she was sentenced to pay a 2000 euro fine and 4000 euros in damages for libeling her political rival Philippe Sarre. In January 2014, she was again convicted for slandering Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine Le Pen.
Rama Yade | Convictions
Farina had requested that he only be charged with a summary offence to avoid the publicity of a full trial, and he was subsequently found guilty of stalking.
Adele Farina | Legislative Council
On April 14, 1944 she was sentenced to death by the People's Court.
Adele Stürzl | Life
In December 1963, Keeler pleaded guilty to charges of perjury before Sir Anthony Hawke, the Recorder of London, and she was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, serving four and a half months in prison.
Christine Keeler | Trials
In January 2016, Lohfink was ordered to pay a €24,000 fine, when the Amtsgericht Tiergarten court in Berlin ruled that she had falsely accused two men of raping her, after a video of a sexual encounter with them surfaced on the Internet. Lohfink appealed the decision, but to no avail.
Gina-Lisa Lohfink | Legal issues
The attacker, Rabia Bentot was fined to pay back Caroline Fourest 4000 euros for abusive procedure. This affirmation comes from her blog and not any news press reported this assertion.
Caroline Fourest | Defamation accusations
During her trial, the court's president emphasized the intimate relationship between both women, who shared a bed "breast to breast". The relationship continued into Spitzeder's banking career which Stier was actively supporting, with the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" soon reporting on "two tricksters that take people's money". However, the romantic relationship ended abruptly when after a fight Stier left the premises head over heels; the reason for their fight is unknown to this day. The end of the relationship depressed Spitzeder who locked herself in her rooms and only recovered because her customers, wishing to be able to invest in her bank again, cared for her until she recovered.
Adele Spitzeder | Personal life
In October 2012, Caroline Fourest was sentenced to pay a fine of 800 euros and 3300 euros respectively in damages for libel against Marine Le Pen, Jean-Marie Le Pen and Franck Chauffroy in a biography she wrote titled "Marine Le Pen". In October 2014, Fourest suggested that a racist attack on a young Muslim girl in 2013 could have been fabricated or that if it was real, the girl's family could have been responsible. Fourest was subsequently accused of libel and ordered to pay 6,000 euros. The verdict has been appealed and reverted since the accusation was made after the three-month legal delay.
Caroline Fourest | Defamation accusations
Another contemporary source, a 1872 article in the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" citing her indictment, claims her first money lending activities started in the spring of 1869.
Adele Spitzeder | Spitzedersche Privatbank
In September 2016 Kachelmann was victorious in a civil case against Dinkel in which she was ordered to pay him compensation of €7,096.51. The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court found that Dinkel was guilty of indirect deprivation of liberty through a knowingly untrue criminal complaint, had acted with direct intent and deliberately misled the investigators by "testifying untruthfully". The court also found that the injuries to Dinkel that she had alleged were caused by Kachelmann were in fact self-inflicted. Kachelmann had only sought a relatively small amount of compensation from his false accuser as he had simply wanted to rehabilitate his name and prove his innocence.
Jörg Kachelmann | False rape accusation
Opponents of the government tried to make political capital of the affair, the anti-Semitic Libre Parole even charging her with having poisoned President Faure. A sensational trial finally ended in her acquittal on 14 November 1909, although the judge called her stories "tissues of lies".
Marguerite Steinheil | "L'affaire Steinheil"
Judge William Horkins accused the complainants of "lying or trying to conceal evidence from the court". Lawyer Marie Heinen was able to access thousands of messages between Ghomeshi's accusers and presented them during the trial.
Jian Ghomeshi | Criminal charges and trial
In December 2015, all 5 were sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $7,700.
Death of Adele Biton | Arrests
Ivanovic' charges related to the ownership of the building, which Van der Pluijm-Vrede supposedly incorrectly handled. Ivanovic said that at some times he did not know whether he was dealing with a notary or with the acting governor. Van der Pluijm-Vrede refused to go to the court, citing costs and her work as notary and acting governor general. She asked the court to drop the charges. On 9 November 2011 the claims filed by Ivanovic regarding Van der Pluijm-Vrede were dismissed. The presiding judge cited lack of personal jurisdiction as the case concerned foreign nationals and companies, having no relation with Florida.
Adèle van der Pluijm-Vrede | Legal issues
No longer able to find work in Germany, she left for Vienna but the authorities there forbade any contact between her and the theater's director. Unable to perform under her own name, she began composing music and performing as Adele Vio. In 1878, she published her memoir entitled "Geschichte meines Lebens" (Story of my life). In it, she had formulated plans for after her release from prison, such as opening a brewery in the Au, a large restaurant in western Munich, and a horse racing track near Nymphenburg Palace, none of which came to fruition. After releasing her memoir, she again began to give out promissory notes that now contained explicit warnings that she was not providing any security and that the creditor has to be willing to waive any rights of reimbursement if she was not able to pay them back.
Adele Spitzeder | Later life and death
In November 2014, Haverbeck-Wetzel lodged a police complaint against the Central Council of Jews in Germany. She accused the council of "persecution of innocent people". The investigation was abandoned in December 2014. The Bielefeld Public Prosecutors Office eventually examined proceedings against Haverbeck-Wetzel for false accusation. In the ARD television broadcast series " produced by NDR in March 2015, and despite proceedings prohibiting, Haverbeck-Wetzel again denied the mass destruction of the Jews and discussed her views. She described "this Holocaust" as "the biggest and most persistent lie in history". Haverbeck-Wetzel published a video on YouTube protesting against the trial of Oskar Gröning, the so-called "Accountant of Auschwitz", and distributed leaflets outside the court which were reported to feature Holocaust denial.
Ursula Haverbeck | Since 2014
Spitzeder withstood the pressure levied against her by the authorities and the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" for a while, mainly because banking laws and financial regulations were non-existent and because a few years prior, Bavaria had introduced legislation that allowed almost any business to operate with almost no oversight. In February 1872, an attempt by the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" to discredit her made a lot of customers ask for their investments back, but also brought a rise in new customers. In March 1872, Munich's police director had to admit that the attack, which the police had hoped would end Spitzeder's business, had failed.
Adele Spitzeder | Bankruptcy and criminal charges
In a November 2019 "Mediapart" interview, Haenel accused director Christophe Ruggia of sexually harassing her from the time she was 12 to 15 after casting her in his film "Les Diables". Following the experience, she considered abandoning acting altogether. Haenel's account was backed up by many people who had worked on the film and noted Ruggia's inappropriate behaviour towards her, along with letters he had written her at the time proclaiming his love for her. As a result Ruggia was expelled from the Société des réalisateurs de films, the guild for French directors. Though Haenel had explicitly chosen not to go to the police with her accusations, citing the justice system as "usually condemning so few sexual offenders" and "only one rape out of a hundred" and stating that "the justice ignores us, we ignore the justice", the publicity garnered by her interviews about the abuse led the Paris prosecutor's office to announce they were investigating Ruggia.
Adèle Haenel | Personal life
If so, and if she can, I ask her to forgive me"; however, at the same time he denounced a "media pillory" against him. The Société des réalisateurs de films (SRF) launched a delisting procedure against him. Director Mona Achache, former companion of Ruggia, testified for the investigation of "Mediapart": "He had confided to me to have feelings of being in love for Adèle during the promotional tour of "Les Diables"." Achache claims that he told her about a precise instance of physical contact with Haenel, in which Ruggia "got his hand on the belly of Adèle and then ran it up to her chest, under a T-shirt", while they were watching a film together and Adèle was lying with her head on his knees.
Christophe Ruggia | Sexual assault and sexual harassment investigation
The "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" started a new attack on Spitzeder in the fall of 1872, repeating the warnings of the authorities, explaining the possible ways the government might intervene and prophesying the immediate demise of the bank. In November 1872, the withdrawals clearly exceeded the investments, forcing Spitzeder to limit withdrawals to an hour between six and seven in the morning, with no withdrawals on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The police persuaded 40 of her customers to present their claims to the district court, which then ordered a review of the bank's books. On 12 November 1872, a five-person inquiry commission arrived at the bank to perform a court-ordered review.
Adele Spitzeder | Bankruptcy and criminal charges
Haenel later changed her mind about working with the police and officially filed a complaint against Ruggia in late November 2019. In January 2020, the police officially charged Ruggia with sexual aggression against a minor by a person of authority and sexual harassment. On 28 February 2020, Haenel, along with Noémie Merlant, Céline Sciamma and Aïssa Maïga, walked out of the 45th César Awards ceremony after Roman Polanski, who was convicted of raping 13-year old Samantha Geimer, won the award for Best Director for his film "An Officer and a Spy". As Haenel left, she waved her fist and shouted "La honte!" (“Shame!”), and after exiting the auditorium, she was filmed clapping sarcastically and shouting "Bravo la pédophilie!" ("Bravo, paedophilia!").
Adèle Haenel | Personal life
The judge also cited failure to state a claim by Ivanovic. On 20 August 2013 Van der Pluijm-Vrede was heard as witness by the Joint Court of Justice on Curaçao in her capacity as notary concerning the same case.
Adèle van der Pluijm-Vrede | Legal issues
Her publications include: Other major writings include: Superior Court of Ontario, Expert witness in St. Lewis v. Rancourt defamation case, 2014
Adèle Mercier | Publications
Spitzeder never married, and she rejected numerous marriage proposals, including ones from men of the aristocracy. Despite her demonstrative Christian demeanor at a time when official Catholic doctrine declared homosexuality a sin, she tended to have an entourage composed mostly of young, attractive women. She was in relationships with multiple women. Spitzeder's first documented relationship was during her time in Brno with fellow actress Josefine Gallmeyer. However, as Gallmeyer was erratic and quickly grew bored with her, the relationship soon ended and Spitzeder left Brno for Munich. At some point during her acting career she met Emilie Stier (stage name Branizka) with whom she returned to Munich in 1868.
Adele Spitzeder | Personal life
brought Adele Spitzeder's story to the stage as a play for marionettes in the 1870s. In 1972, Martin Sperr wrote a television movie that was directed by Peer Raben and starred Ruth Drexel as Spitzeder. The play "Die Spitzeder" by Sperr was first performed on 11 September 1977. In 1992, the Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcast the documentary "Adele Spitzeder oder das Märchen von den Zinsen" ("Adele Spitzeder or the fairy tale about the interest") by . Xaver Schwarzenberger adapted the story again as a television movie titled "Die Verführerin Adele Spitzeder" ("The seducer Adele Spitzeder"). It was produced by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and the ORF, starred Birgit Minichmayr as Adele Spitzeder and was first broadcast on 11 January 2012.
Adele Spitzeder | In popular culture
Federal regulators said "The indictment against Susan McDougal details a series of grand jury questions about Hillary Clinton and Castle Grande that Mrs. McDougal refused to answer During the grand jury McDougal stated her full name "for the record," then refused to answer any additional questions. Her testimony included the response "Get another independent counsel and I'll answer every question.". U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright sentenced her to prison confinement for civil contempt of court related to McDougal's unwillingness to answer "three questions." One of those questions concerned whether President Bill Clinton lied in his testimony during her Whitewater trial, particularly when he denied any knowledge of an illegal $300,000 loan.
Castle Grande | Susan McDougal
In 2015 Rundle charged a 15-year-old boy with murder of a New York City rabbi based on a poorly drawn facial sketch that was compared to a Sesame Street character. A year later charges were dropped and in 2019 the falsely accused suspect filed a lawsuit alleging that both Rundle's office and the involved police officers possessed exonerating evidence even before he was charged.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle | Murder charges against innocent teenager
The case was brought to trial in 1896, upon which Betzy von Röök sued her for slander. The trial was a sensation, and the lawyers of the parties made appeals to the public's sentiments by populism, after which followers took sides based upon political sympathies. Fägerskiöld was represented by Karl Staaf. In 1897, she confessed that she herself had poisoned Evert Taube von Block for her fiancé to inherit Broxvik Manor: she had accused Betzy von Röök to prevent her from inheriting the property and will it to her younger son. As her statement was supported by circumstances, she was accused of murder and Betzy von Röök was acquitted.
Helga Fägerskiöld | Introduction
In need of a new companion, Spitzeder placed an advertisement in the local newspapers for a "Gesellschafterin" ("lady's companion"), a code that was known to refer to women seeking a female romantic partner. Out of a large number of applicants, she chose a French woman who however apparently did not understand the code and thus left her house after only a few weeks. Shortly afterwards, Rosa Ehinger moved into the house next door with her mother. Originally from Augsburg, Ehinger had dreams of becoming an actress, so Spitzeder, 19 years her senior, took the young woman, who soon started working in her bank, in and showered her with lavish gifts.
Adele Spitzeder | Personal life
Farina was born in Perth, and studied arts and law at the University of Western Australia. She was subsequently employed as the private secretary to Bob Pearce, Environment Minister in the Lawrence government, but this ended abruptly in 1992, when she was charged by police with stealing $3,280 worth of postage stamps from the state. The trial lasted four days, but was terminated when the jury could not reach a verdict. The charges were subsequently dropped when the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that there was no reasonable prospect of securing a conviction, but the case made headlines when Pearce was charged – and subsequently convicted – on contempt of court charges for comments made in support of Farina during the trial.
Adele Farina | Early career
Wolińska-Brus was accused of being an "accessory to a judicial murder".
Helena Wolińska-Brus | Introduction
During the March 2006 trial she called the Holocaust "the biggest lie in world history". She also defended Holocaust denier Horst Mahler. Zündel was eventually convicted in February 2007, and served a five-year term of imprisonment. Stolz was convicted in January 2008 of the same, and additional offenses, and sentenced to a 3½-year prison term. She was also banned from practicing law for five years.
Sylvia Stolz | Ernst Zündel and Stolz trials
Her "masculine" behavior is generally highlighted, such as her cigar smoking and surrounding herself with beautiful young women. Unable to restrict her lifestyle, she began to live at the expense of her creditors and accrued significant debt in Hamburg and Zurich while working there. In 1868, she returned to Munich with her girlfriend Emilie to await job offers from theatrical agents but did not receive any she wanted. Dejected and penniless, she only had her mother's stipend of 50 gulden to live on. The money, however, was not sufficient to pay for her lifestyle of residing in hotels and inns with her girlfriend and six dogs.
Adele Spitzeder | Acting career
Jégado's trial began on December 6, 1851 but, due to French laws of permissible evidence and statute of limitations, she was accused only of three murders, three attempted murders and 11 thefts. At least one later case appears to have been dropped since it involved a child and police were reluctant to upset the parents by an exhumation. Jégado's behaviour in court was erratic, changing from humble mutterings to loud pious shouting and occasional violent outbursts against her accusers. She consistently denied she even knew what arsenic was, despite evidence to the contrary. Doctors who had examined her victims had not usually noticed anything suspicious, but when the most recent victims were exhumed, they showed overwhelming evidence of arsenic and possibly antimony.
Hélène Jégado | Trial
On May 28, 2015, Zemor has been condemned by a French high court ("Cour d'appel de Paris") as « guilty of provoking hate against a group, the Israeli producers, because they belong to a nation, the State of Israel.»
Olivia Zemor | Condamnation in Court
Alibert was acquitted of all charges.
Marguerite Alibert | Trial
On 10 January 2019, the actual trial started with the prosecution reading the 195-page "act of accusation" to the court and jury, wherein it described the charges brought against the two men and the evidence gathered during the investigation. On 15 January, the defence attorneys of Nemmouche, amongst which Henri Laquay and Sebastien Courtoy, presented their "act of defence" in turn, in which they listed seven main arguments against the charges. They focused on the perceived lack of DNA traces on some of the material evidence, and accused the Mossad (foreign intelligence agency of Israel) of having set up Nemmouche.
Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting | Accusation
He was acquitted after a widely publicized trial. There had been three witnesses present during and who participated in the sex acts. Two testified at the trial, and the third recanted her earlier testimony and refused to come forward, the theory being that Hodel had threatened her into silence. The trial had caused Tamar to look like a liar and that she had made up the entire abuse allegation for attention.
George Hodel | Murder and rape suspect
The indictment from the prosecutor Frank Späth was denominated for murder (murder for satisfying the sexual drive), attempted murder, assault, false imprisonment and rape with particularly severe coincidence. The perpetrator was occupied by numerous indications. DNA of the victims were found on a knife and gloves belonging to the offender. In addition, jewels from the murdered women were found in his possession. The crime scenes near highways brought the police relatively quickly to the fact that it was most likely the offender was a long-distance driver. In 2007, Marco Metzler was sentenced by the district court of Hagen-Hohenlimburg because of particular severity of guilt to life imprisonment with subsequent security detention.
Marco Metzler | Charges
In December 2019, French magazine L’Obs came back to the "News of the World" story, relating a "violent campaign to discredit her" in the media. Charlotte Lewis said: "I was completely alone in 2010. No one believed me. They said I was a prostitute, a liar. I'm a little anxious to talk. The media pushed me so hard."
Charlotte Lewis | Accusation against Roman Polanski
In 2015, he was acquitted after the case's prosecutor argued that digital data in the files submitted as evidence in the case was “fake” and did not constitute evidence.
Özden Örnek | Introduction
Spitzeder cultivated an image of a resolute, pious woman concerned for the public welfare. During banking hours at her house in Schönfeld Street she was often seen sitting on an elevated leather chair in the middle of her banking office wearing a red nightgown and a cross around her neck, demonstratively signing notes for the money she received. In the halls of the building, cutouts of the negative articles from the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" were posted in an attempt to demonstrate that she had nothing to fear from such coverage. The long lines of waiting customers were often entertained by musical groups playing outside the bank and she provided free meals and drinks at the tavern "Wilhelm Tell" next door.
Adele Spitzeder | Public image
Mireles' trial on charges of capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy was held from February 8 to 12, 2010. He was convicted of rape and capital murder; the aggravated sodomy charge was dropped as part of the capital murder charge. On March 31, 2010, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2013, Mireles appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court requesting a new trial; the court upheld his conviction.
Murder of Emily Sander | Trial
The testers claimed to an Administrative Appeals tribunal in the Federal Court that Pileggi gave them a false name and then attempted to flee, nearly hitting them with her car in the process. Pileggi claimed that the testers did not identify themselves and she had fled in fear as they pursued her. Pileggi's appeal against the charge of refusing a drug test was unsuccessful, and she was excluded from the Australian team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She was also required to pay ASDA's court costs, and faced a two-year ban from weightlifting as mandated by the Australian Weightlifting Federation and international rules.
Caroline Pileggi | Introduction
According to prosecutors, the accuser admitted that she lied to a grand jury about the events surrounding the alleged attack. Diallo said that the translator misunderstood her words. Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest on 1 July. After completing a lengthy investigation, prosecutors filed a motion to drop all charges against Strauss-Kahn, stating that they were not convinced of his culpability beyond a reasonable doubt due to serious issues in the complainant's credibility and inconclusive physical evidence, and therefore could not ask a jury to believe in it. The motion was granted by Judge Obus in a hearing on 23 August 2011.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn | "New York v. Strauss-Kahn" and later allegations
The public insulting continued in January 2008 during the TV show "Johannes B. Kerner" when Pocher once again made fun of the same woman's appearance and mocked the verdict. As a result, another suit was filed against the entertainer. The victim's lawyer explained that the woman was insulted and that the topic is repeatedly brought up by people whom she meets during her work. Pocher did not comment on this. Statements such as those made by Pocher could be legal in the future, as the Council of Europe is advising to decriminalise insults. Pocher caused a scandal in July 2005 during the ZDF (German broadcasting station) – show "Gottschalk & Friends" when he first insulted Mariah Carey and later accidentally spat water onto her.
Oliver Pocher | Criticism and scandals
Adele "Dele" Kurzweil (January 31, 1925 – September 9, 1942) was an Austrian girl of Jewish origin who was tracked down by Nazi Germany and murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp at arrival. Her fate became widely known after suitcases had been discovered in 1990 at her family's last refuge in the southern French town of Auvillar.
Adele Kurzweil | Introduction
The prosecution began arguing its case at the beginning of the trial, and the prosecution phase ended on 30 March 2011. The defense phase began on 31 May, and they began with Olmert testifying in his own defense. On 30 June, the prosecution began a cross-examination on the various charges. In January 2012, Olmert was indicted for taking bribes over the Holyland affair. The indictment was filed in the Tel Aviv District Court. After Olmert began accusing his secretary, Shula Zaken, of committing the crimes he was charged with, Zaken began negotiating a plea bargain with prosecutors. In late March 2014, prosecutors signed a plea bargain with Zaken, under which she would plead guilty, and prosecutors would not request a prison term longer than 11 months.
Ehud Olmert | Indictments, trials and criminal convictions
She was again arrested in 1934 and 1935. After Austria became annexed to Nazi Germany, she was active in the resistance against the regime. She collaborated with other resistance fighters around the Robert Uhrig group, they regularly met also at her house. She was arrested in June 1942. She was suspected of trying to bring a deserter out of the country to Switzerland in April 1942. For May 1, 1942 she tried to organise a hunger demonstration of housewives at the main square in Kufstein. In November 1942, Stürzl was convicted in Innsbruck of helping a deserter and sentenced to four years in prison.
Adele Stürzl | Life
Zschäpe had to answer charges of being a principal in ten murders and a serious arson and of being a member of a terrorist organization. Eminger was accused of knowing about the murders and aiding and abetting a terror organisation. Gerlach was accused of being an accessory by providing false documents for the so-called NSU trio. Schultze was accused of being an accessory by transporting the weapon used in nine of the murders to the trio. Wohlleben was accused, inter alia, of being an accessory by procuring this weapon. Other charges were also brought. Beate Zschäpe was found guilty of murder on 11 July 2018 and was sentenced to life imprisonment, which her lawyer said she would immediately appeal.
National Socialist Underground trial | Introduction
Michaels was indicted for 235 counts of sexual offenses with children and youths. She denied the charges. Upon conviction, when asked whether they actually believed some of the more sordid claims from the children, prosecutors Glenn Goldberg and Sara McArdle answered "No" and "Oh, absolutely" simultaneously. But when journalist Dorothy Rabinowitz asked about some of these bizarre elements, such as knives that left no scars, Goldberg replied, "What is there left to know? The jury has spoken. She's convicted."
Wee Care Nursery School abuse trial | Accusation
In 2010, Salah was arrested for having spitted in the face of an Israeli policeman while shouting at him "You are racist murderers. You have no dignity" during a protest in 2007 in the Old City of Jerusalem. He denied those charges. The court initially sentenced him to nine months in prison but reduced the sentence to five months. In a related case, the court acquitted Salah of charges of rioting and "involvement in an illegal gathering" in connection with the protest. A judge ruled that the charges, brought by police, were "inconsistent with witness testimony and video evidence produced by the defence".
Raed Salah | 2007 alleged spitting incident
Stephenson was indicted on charges of rape and second-degree murder. The doctor who had examined Oberholtzer testified that the injuries she received were sufficient to have killed her, as her wounds developed an infection that reached her lungs and kidneys." Stephenson's attorney claimed Oberholtzer had committed suicide, saying the rapist could not have anticipated her behavior. The prosecution countered to the effect that, based on medical testimony, prompt medical attention might have saved her life. During closing statements, the prosecutor decried Stephenson as a "destroyer of virtue and womanhood". The jury found him guilty of second degree murder, rape, and kidnapping, and the court sentenced him to life in prison.
Madge Oberholtzer | Trial
Moen's lawyer requested a new trial for both cases on 2 January 2000. The court accepted the request for the Sigrid Heggheim case, and on 7 October 2004 judge Wenche Skjæggestad announced that the court had quashed the conviction and acquitted Moen for the rape and attempted murder of Sigrid Heggheim. The court found that the forensic evidence exonerated Moen, and that in any case reasonable doubt should have acquitted him in the first place. Among other things, he had an alibi for the most likely time of the crime. Also, the forensic evidence indicated that the perpetrator had pursued the victim across a field, knocked her down, and then tied her with her own clothes — Moen was partly paralysed and physically incapable of these actions.
Fritz Moen | Convictions quashed
In June 2014, judges deemed Stan's accusations of blackmail groundless. Furthermore, the singer's claims of bodily harm were denied in the November of the same year due to the lack of physical evidence. In June 2015, a preliminary hearing of Stan and Prodan's case was held. According to Prodan, the incident begun in his recording studio when he told Stan that she had sung poorly. Prodan alleged that Stan did not want to leave the building and reacted aggressively to him pushing her towards the exit. When describing the events in his car, Prodan said Stan had begun kicking him; he defended himself, slapping her when she jerked the steering wheel.
Alexandra Stan vs. Marcel Prodan | Court proceedings and outcome
Rapraeger was initially pleaded not guilty, but then was convicted by Judge Katherine Lumsden of 10 counts of reckless conduct and 10 count of computer fraud because at least 10 women under her care had breast cancer. The judge set her free on $50,000 bail and then scheduled a second court date for April 2014. Currently she serves a year of probation and 160 days in federal detention center. On April 17, 2014 she was found guilty, was ordered to pay $12,500 after her probation and was banned from hospital related work for 10 years.
Rachael Rapraeger | Conviction
In his original account, Guede had said that Kercher's confrontation with her killer had started at the entry door to the house. One legal commentator on the case thought that insufficient consideration had been given to the possibility that Guede had called at the house on some pretext while Kercher was alone there, murdered her after she opened the door to him, and faked a burglary to cover his tracks. In October 2008, Guede was found guilty of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. His prison sentence was ultimately reduced to 16 years.
Amanda Knox | Trial of Guede
She refused all accusations made against her, her sister, and her friend, calling them accusations made of evil and aggression. When the three women were sentenced to be decapitated and burned at the stake, she replied, ""Well! I am still innocent! God forgive you for the verdict you just made!""
Anna Zippel | Trial
In hopes of discrediting her, Remington's attorneys hired private detectives to look into her past. They produced evidence of her alcoholism, periods of severe depression, and a suicide attempt while a student in Florence; they alleged that her master's thesis had been written by someone else, and that, by the standards of the day, she had been sexually promiscuous since her college days. Bentley declined to testify at a Remington loyalty board hearing, and NBC settled the libel case out of court for $10,000. Bentley testified in the trials of four accused spies: The perjury trial of William Remington, a case against Abe Brothman for obstruction of justice, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg trials on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage.
Elizabeth Bentley | Trials and credibility
After years of circulating rumors, in June 2014 a number of women filed criminal complaints against Seisenbacher for alleged sexual misconduct against them when they were still minors or children. On 5 October 2016 Seisenbacher was formally indicted by the Vienna Prosecutor's Office for statutory rape of two girls who at the time were less than 14 years of age, and for attempted sexual assault of one girl who at the time was 16 years old. The first indictment involved a girl who was 11 when in 1999 she allegedly was sexually assaulted at multiple occasions by Seisenbacher lasting until 2001; the second indictment involved the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in 2004.
Peter Seisenbacher | Introduction
The foremost of her critics was the liberal "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten" which in 1870 began calling Spitzeder a fraudster and kept questioning her honesty and business practices until the end. In reaction to it, she placed an ad in every major newspaper – except the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten", which refused to print it – challenging her critics to demonstrate that she enticed her customers to give her money or that they were being disadvantaged. After attempts to bribe the "Münchner Neuste Nachrichten"'s editor in chief, August Napoleon Vecchioni, to cease their criticism failed, Spitzeder turned to the newspaper's main rival, the Catholic-conservative "Volksbote." A newspaper circulated in similar numbers as the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten", the "Volksbote" was in serious financial troubles which it solved with a 13,000 gulden loan from Spitzeder; in turn, the "Volksbote" responded to each criticism in the "Münchner Neueste Nachrichten".
Adele Spitzeder | Public image
Hedvig Christina Ekwall refused to admit anything; no matter how many accusations, statements and incriminating circumstances were put before her, she was stern in her denial, and as there was no physical proof, she was released. Hedda Thorman, who, during her time in prison had first admitted and then retracted her confession of having given birth to, and killed, an infant in secret, was also freed; the authorities now suspected that it was Sofia Maria who had done this. Sofia Maria Ekwall was judged guilty of murder of her father and of Maja Stina Forsberg, and was sentenced to death.
Sofia Maria Ekwall | Trial and verdict
On 10 August 2001, the Hamiltons were arrested by police who were investigating an alleged rape. The Hamiltons said they could not have been present at the alleged rape scene because they were hosting a dinner party and produced alibis including one from Derek Laud. The investigation against the couple was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. This event was recorded on film by Louis Theroux, who, at that time, was spending time with the Hamiltons for an episode of his documentary series "When Louis Met...". In June 2003, the woman who had fabricated the accusation of rape, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, was sentenced to three years in jail for perverting the course of justice.
Neil Hamilton (politician) | False rape accusation
He stabbed her once in the chest and once in the back. Adele required emergency surgery but made a quick recovery. Mailer claimed he had stabbed Adele "to relieve her of cancer". He was involuntarily committed to Bellevue Hospital for 17 days. While Adele did not press charges, saying she wanted to protect their daughters, Mailer later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault saying, "I feel I did a lousy, dirty, cowardly thing", and received a suspended sentence of three years' probation. In 1962, the two divorced. In 1997, Adele published a memoir of their marriage entitled "The Last Party", which recounted her husband stabbing her at a party and the aftermath.
Norman Mailer | Marriages and children
From 1871, the authorities tried to find legal reasons to stop her business but since she was fulfilling her obligations to her customers as promised, she avoided official intervention. While the city of Munich began taxing her as a "Bankier 2. Klasse" ("second class banker"), she avoided calls to be entered into the register of companies at this time. In 1872, the Munich Commerce Court decided that she had to enter her business in the register of companies, revising its earlier decision, which included rules about proper accounting. Since the court's ruling only applied to her money-lending business, she instead stopped lending and focused on taking in money.
Adele Spitzeder | Clashes with authorities and competition
Léon Peltzer recognised the justice of the verdict against himself but maintained that it was a miscarriage of justice for Armand to also receive it. Armand himself exclaimed "Let my little girl's curse fall on the jury", in reference to the impact on his daughter Mariette. He died in prison in Louvain three years after the sentence, whilst his brother remained in prison until 1911. Mariette went on to marry Hermann Adeneuer on 9 November 1889 and died in Berlin aged 72 on 3 December 1942. Julie was cleared of all suspicion, on 16 April 1886 marrying Fréderic Delvaux (1834-1916), who had represented her during the trial.
Armand Peltzer | Peltzer Case
Miranda Agnes Jayne Grell (born June 1978) is a barrister and former Labour Party councillor for the London Borough of Waltham Forest. She was the first person to be found guilty of making false statements under the Representation of the People Act 1983, having made false allegations of paedophilia against her political opponent, Barry Smith, during an election campaign. Grell was banned for holding public office for three years as a result. She subsequently trained to become a barrister and was called to the Bar in 2014.
Miranda Grell | Introduction
During the trial, the prosecution argued that Routier's injuries were self-inflicted, that the crime scene had been staged, and that she murdered her sons because of the family's financial difficulties; the defense argued that there was no reason Routier would have killed her children, and that the case did not have a motive, a confession, or any witnesses. The jury found Routier guilty of the murder of Damon, and sentenced her to death by lethal injection. Two appeals filed by Routier, who maintains her innocence, based on allegations of irregularities during the trial were denied, but new DNA tests were ordered multiple times after technology had advanced.
Darlie Routier | Introduction
In October 2012, he was charged with child sex offences allegedly committed in the 1990s. In December 2012, he denied six counts of rape involving a girl under 16. The trial started at the Old Bailey on Tuesday 7 May 2013. On 12 July he was found not guilty. In August 2013, he said that girls who throw themselves at celebrities or who "go out and just have a good time" could themselves be to blame. In such cases, charges involving girls under the age of consent could just be a technicality. His comments drew strong criticism from the National Association of People Abused in Childhood, who said that rape was always a crime and the law was configured on the assumption that adults would want to protect children.
Eddy Shah | Controversies
It was the first time that a lawyer of the defense was prosecuted for an event happening in court, which was seen as an attempt to intimidate the lawyers of the defense by the prosecution. In 1991 she quit the defense at the Kurdish Trial in Düsseldorf as her client disappeared. She was also the lawyer of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) victims of the arson attack in Cologne in 2001 during the NSU Trial. During the trial, she criticized the state prosecution for obstructing the investigation of the NSU network and that it only viewed the NSU as a cell of three people.
Edith Lunnebach | Notable trials
DM. and almost 200 witnesses were called to testify. It was an exceptional trial for which the main hall was amplified in order to provide enough room for the expected seventy participants amongst prosecutors and lawyers of the defense and also for the translators needed for the trial. During the trial in Düsseldorf she was prosecuted for offending the presiding Judge Jörg Winfried Belker, but acquitted by a court in Cologne. She was again prosecuted and also fined for allegedly saying in court "And you are our Stasi". She appealed against the fine and was acquitted due to the invalidity of the courts protocol as evidence.
Edith Lunnebach | Notable trials
She subsequently retracted her confession, stating that she had only made it to create a sensation to avoid any attention from her recent illegitimate child birth. The court found itself unable to sentence her guilty upon her earlier confession as it did not regard the evidence sufficient to convict her guilty against her denial. On 1 April 1898, the case was closed and Helga Fägerskiöld was freed for lack of proof.
Helga Fägerskiöld | Introduction
In February 2016, Spitzer was investigated by the New York City Police Department after being accused of assault by Svetlana Travis-Zakharova, a woman from Russia, in an incident that supposedly occurred at the Plaza Hotel on February 13, 2016. The "New York Daily News" reported Spitzer had been accused of attacking the woman, who tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists after the incident. Ms. Travis subsequently recanted her accusations and no charges were filed. Within a month, Travis—who left for Russia in February—turned from an alleged victim into a suspect. On October 10, she was arrested upon landing at JFK International Airport.
Eliot Spitzer | 2016 extortion scandal
On March 15, Dupré was granted immunity from prosecution by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York for her role in the Spitzer scandal, in order to testify at court hearings related to the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring. In July 2008, a woman named Amber Arpaio filed a federal lawsuit against Dupré for defamation and invasion of privacy, claiming Dupré used her lost driver's license to appear on a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Arpaio also sued "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis.
Ashley Alexandra Dupré | Legal proceedings
The trial began in September 2017 and Khavari confessed not only to the rape and murder of Ladenburger but confessed to lying about his age. He was older than he had officially claimed to be. A surveillance video from a Freiburg Tram taken on the day of the crime was presented at the trial. The video shows that the accused had molested two other women shortly prior to the rape and murder of Ladenburger. According to the testimony of Khavari's cell mate, Khavari had told him that at the age of 14, he had raped a 12-year-old girl in Iran.
Murder of Maria Ladenburger | Trial in Freiburg
Denyer was charged with three murder counts and one of abduction, charges to which she later pleaded guilty and did not contest. Psychologists and experts examined Denyer, noting a lack of emotion regarding the crimes, a single-minded desire to kill, and the unusual randomness by which victims were chosen, leading to a diagnosis of sadistic personality disorder but not legal insanity. During examination, she also admitted being influenced by the 1987 film, "The Stepfather". On 20 December 1993, after four days of hearings, she was sentenced in Melbourne's Supreme Court to three consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with no parole period.
Paula Denyer | Trial and imprisonment
Five Palestinian teenagers, Muhammad Mahdi Suleiman, Tamer Ayyad Ahmad Souf, Ammar Abd al-Nayif Souf, Ali Yassin Ali Shamlawi and Muhammad Jumaa Muhammad Kleib, from Kfar Haras were arrested for throwing the rocks that caused the crash. They were charged with having thrown stones on that road that day. 20 drivers driving on that route during the day later filed insurance claims for damages to their vehicles, but no eyewitnesses, according to Ma'an News Agency, were forthcoming, and no police station received complaints at the time. All five eventually confessed but retracted their statements in court, stating that their admissions had been extracted after repeated abuse under interrogation.
Death of Adele Biton | Arrests
Everett denied at trial that she intended to bribe Kerner, and the government never identified her as a briber. Even though Kerner reported the profits in his tax returns he was charged with bribery and retained Paul Connolly and Thomas Patton of Williams & Connolly to represent him. Following a 1973 trial in which his prosecutors were future Illinois Republican governor James R. Thompson and future White House Chief of Staff, Republican Samuel K. Skinner. Kerner was convicted on 17 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges. On appeal, all counts were overturned with the exception of four counts of mail fraud.
Otto Kerner Jr. | Scandal and conviction
Farina returned to the law after the trial, and was subsequently admitted to the bar.
Adele Farina | Early career
Malcolm W. Prinzing accused Keliher of theft. Prinzing had put a sign on the property of Northbridge Mall in Albert Lea in opposition to a school levy. Keliher saw the sign and spoke to the manager of the mall about it. She and the manager removed letters from the sign to make it more neutral. Prinzing went after her in her 2002 reelection campaign, calling her a thief. He took her to court and lost. The jury awarded Keliher $150,000 for defamation. Prinzing appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, but the court upheld the decision.
Grace Schwab | Lawsuit
In November 2014, he presided over the immigration fraud trial of Rasmea Odeh, and told the jury that he thought its guilty verdict was "a fair and reasonable one based on the evidence that came in." On February 13, 2015, he denied Odeh's appeal, ruling that her argument lacked legal merit. The judge held that evidence showed that Odeh illegally obtained U.S. citizenship by failing to disclose her conviction for fatal terrorist bombings, that the jurors "clearly did not believe [her] explanation", and that "the evidence was more than sufficient to support the jury's verdict." Judge Drain sentenced Odeh to 18 months in federal prison on March 12, 2015, stripping her of her citizenship of the United States, and ordering her deportation at the end of her sentence.
Gershwin A. Drain | Notable cases
An indictment was filed in 2012, but the trial of the allegations before the district court has not yet taken place as of February 2016.
Astrid Grotelüschen | Controversy
In 2002, Romero Ellner was charged with raping his daughter. On 30 July 2002 he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and office. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to raping his daughter and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released early, and the prosecutor who tried him has accused him of then embarking on a harassment campaign against her and her family, for which he was tried and found guilty on sixteen counts of libel and defamation in 2016. In January 2019, the Honduras Supreme Court upheld a previous conviction of the journalist; he charged a public prosecutor with corruption in 2016.
David Romero Ellner | Convictions