The Carl Hirschmann Trial: It Was All About Sex

It has been a long time coming, but finally the trial against millionaire Carl Hirschmann has taken place in Switzerland. Accused of various charges of sexual harassment and on one count of sex with a minor, Carl Hirschmann was tried in a two days trial. 

Carl Hirschmann

Carl Hirschmann finally had his trial at the district court of Zurich. The list of allegations was long and almost all of them had to do with sex. It was alleged that he had used force and coercion to reach his aims, that he had forced sexual intercourse with several women just stopping short of rape, and that he had sex with a minor. The press would have had a heyday if the court hadn’t decided to restrict access to the select circle of accredited journalists which abide by its secrecy rules on such occasions.

The restrictions were not put in place for Carl Hirschmann’s benefit, but to preserve the anonymity of the women involved in the case as plaintiffs beside the state. Despite being closed to the public, the trial was packed with all the lawyers of the plaintiffs and the state prosecutor as well as the teal of lawyers representing Carl Hirschmann who were headed by Dominique von Planta.

The prosecution had demanded a sentence of four years in prison for Carl Hirschmann; his defence lawyers demanded his acquittal. The court in the end decided to send him to prison; 14 months in prison have to be served, 19 months were deferred in probation with a probationary period of two years. At first glance, this might look like a lot less than the 48 months demanded by the state prosecutor, but at closer inspection it actually isn’t.

The prosecution had included incidents of force and physical abuse alleged by Carl Hirschmann’s ex-girlfriend which had supposedly taken place during their stay in London. The court ruled that it was not responsible for incidents happening in the jurisdiction of Great Britain and excluded them from the considerations. Until she takes them into a court in London they will therefore remain alleged.

Otherwise, the court considered the allegations made by the three women as proven; the case of sex with a 15 year old girl was not in contention as Carl Hirschmann had pleaded guilty on that count from the beginning.

Looking at it that way, the tactics of Carl Hirschmann’s defence was an unmitigated disaster. Dominique von Planta had tried from the start to depict the women involved as being untrustworthy and as liars. In her closing statement, she had attacked them one by one trying to discredit them and their allegations. She also had a go at the state prosecutor for the press disaster that had brought the whole affair into the press over two years ago.

The state prosecutor retaliated by calling Carl Hirschmann media hungry and proved it with an e-mail sent by Hirschmann to a friend: “It’s quite a sexy feeling to be public enemy number one.” The prosecutor has a point, at least to my way of thinking. A man who has to claim having had a fling with Paris Hilton is asking for trouble with the media because there really is nothing else to attract one to Paris Hilton except a terribly bad taste in women.

The state prosecutor said after the verdict that he probably will not appeal against the sentencing as it seemed balanced under the circumstances. Dominique von Planta on the other hand reserved judgement on launching an appeal on part of the defendant until she had studied the written ruling in detail. Should she decide to go into an appeal, she will have to change her tactics drastically. Otherwise, the appeal might even backfire.

Further reading
Carl Hirschmann's Home Theatre
Poor Rich Boy: Carl Hirschmann
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment