Sufficiency of trial court's assessment of witness testimony on victim's location in dismissal of criminal appeal for failure to meet comprehensive review objection requirements

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH), 5th Criminal Senate, dismissed the defendant's appeal as unfounded, thereby upholding the judgment of the Berlin Regional Court dated January 10, 2023; consequently, the defendant is ordered to bear the costs of the appeal and the necessary expenses of the auxiliary complainants. The dispute concerned a criminal trial where the appellant raised a comprehensive review objection (Inbegriffsrüge) under § 261 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO), arguing that the trial court failed to adequately address testimony from a non-appellant witness regarding the victim's location prior to the discharge of the final shot in the underlying violent offense. The Senate determined that the objection was meritless because the trial court had explicitly engaged with and evaluated the specific witness statement in the written reasoning of its judgment, thereby satisfying the legal requirements for factual assessment.