Johny Vassbakk broke down in tears when the judges finally read out the conclusion. – He had an emotional breakdown after hearing the words. He was unable to stand on his feet, says Vassbakk’s defender, Stian Bråstein. The defenders of Johny Vassbakk, Stian Kristensen and Stian Bråstein, were naturally very pleased after their client was acquitted. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Until then, Vassbakk had followed the verdict reading sitting on a chair in the hallway leading down to the detention center. He was brought into the courtroom when, after two and a half hours, the judge read out the sentences “be acquitted of the criminal claim” and “be acquitted of the compensation claim”. VIDEO: The majority in the Gulating Court of Appeal acquits Johny Vassbakk of the murder of Birgitte Tengs. Police and prosecution were downplayed The Gulating Court of Appeal came with a regular downplaying of the police and prosecution authority in the judgment. In the court’s view, both bodies have fallen into a confirmation trap. “This is a phenomenon that several of the experts and expert witnesses have warned against,” the court points out. Johny Vassbakk can today return to Karmøy as a free man after more than two years in remand prison. Photo: Privat The judges believe that the DNA discovery has defined the entire investigation for the police after March 2019. From this point on, the court believes that there was no longer any objective approach on the part of the police, but that all other evidence was interpreted to fit the hypothesis that Vassbakk had taken Birgitte in the car from the center of Kopervik, and then driven her to the crime scene where she was killed. The court: – Unsound assessment of evidence The court believes that the prosecution has built the whole case on the discovery of DNA from Vassbakk on Birgitte’s pantyhose, a few centimeters below the waistband, and that they believed this could not have gotten there in any other way than by him killing Birgitte. At the same time, the court points out that DNA from other unknown men on the pantyhose, as well as hair from at least five other people, including in Birgitte’s hands, are circumstances that the prosecution believed had to be disregarded. Johny Vassbakk broke down in tears when the judges read out the conclusion that he was acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs. Illustration: Hege Vatnaland – As long as you do not know who is the origin of the other biological traces, it is difficult for the Court of Appeal to understand how this can be in line with sound evidence assessment, according to the judges. – The court cannot base speculations that are unfavorable to the accused. This would be contrary to the principle that the prosecution has the burden of proof, the judgment states. Not proven that DNA was on the trouser waistband The majority believes that the discovery of small amounts of DNA from Vassbakk on Birgitte’s pantyhose is not necessarily relevant to the crime. The court assumes that DNA from Vassbakk on the thigh of Birgitte’s tights may have spread to the waistband. Thus, it cannot be established that it was Vassbakk who pulled down her tights. – The DNA found on the pantyhose does not in itself say anything about whether it got there during the murder, whether it was there from before, or whether it got there afterwards, the judges believe. – Has been a nightmare – The last two years have been like a nightmare for my client. A nightmare he hoped he would wake up from. He has had his life unfolded in every way, says defender Stian Bråstein to news. He now warns that there will be a legal aftermath. – We can take today first, then we can work on it, says Bråstein. Bråstein feels that the defense has been heard on all points. – For him, it is an enormous relief. We just had a chat in the back room. He is dissolved and relieved. But at the same time, a young girl has lost her life in this case, and he is thinking of the next of kin. Prosecutor: – Don’t recognize me State prosecutor Thale Thomseth says she doesn’t recognize herself in the Court of Appeal’s claim that the prosecution has fallen into a confirmation trap. Prosecutor Thale Thomseth believes that the prosecution made thorough assessments beforehand. She does not agree with the judges’ claims about the confirmation trap. Photo: Gunnar Morsund / news – Now we have to go through the judgment carefully and see what assessments have been made, says Thomset, who emphasizes that the court has divided into a minority in a majority. – I believe the prosecution had made thorough assessments beforehand. A unanimous verdict in the district court indicates that the correct assessments were made. Then the Court of Appeal thinks otherwise, and we just have to state that. Then we also have to remember that the evidence requirement in criminal cases is very strict, she adds. The Attorney General says that an appeal “must be assessed”, but that it is the Attorney General who must assess this issue. Without a killer In December last year, Johny Vassbakk was unanimously sentenced to 17 years in prison in the district court. In addition, he was sentenced to pay NOK 600,000 in compensation to each of his parents. The sentence was appealed, and when the appeal started in the Gulating Court of Appeal in September, the prosecution asked again for Vassbakk to be imprisoned for 17 years. The seven judges in the Court of Appeal. Five of them, including expert judges Arild Oma and Jarle Golten Smørdal (in the middle), believed that Vassbakk could not be sentenced for the murder of Birgitte Tengs. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news During the sentencing, it became clear early on that the seven judges disagreed on the question of guilt. Five of the judges, including the two expert judges, believed that Johny Vassbakk could not be convicted for the murder of Birgitte Tengs in May 1995. Two of the fellow judges believed that he must be convicted. This means that after 28 years, no one has yet been convicted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs. What about the parents? According to all indications, a finish line will be set for this matter today. The vast majority of cases end up in the Court of Appeal. – You cannot appeal guilt and punishment to the Supreme Court. Then there must be something wrong with the proceedings or a wrong interpretation of the law. It is probably something that both judges and the parties are very careful to avoid, said news’s crime commentator Olav Rønneberg before the sentencing. As a result, the parents of Birgitte Tengs do not get the answer they wanted in this round either: Who killed their daughter in May 1995? Birgitte Tengs’ father, Torger Tengs, was in the courtroom together with the assistant lawyers John Christian Elden and Erik Lea. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Aid attorney Erik Lea tells news that he is not particularly surprised, and that both he and Torger Tengs were prepared for the two options that were possible. – But Torger is a little shocked. He thought he finally had the answer. He needs some time to get over this. Karen, his wife, thought it was the wrong defendant who sat on the dock. In a way, she has been right, says Lea. The DNA evidence Much of the appeal case against Vassbakk has been about the DNA evidence. As it did in the trial in the district court. This spring, after the district court judgment against Vassbakk was handed down, more than 60 new samples from Birgitte Teng’s pantyhose were sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute in the Netherlands, NFI. The samples are taken from what are probably the perpetrator’s handprints. According to the prosecution, small amounts of male DNA were found in these samples. DNA that they believe very likely belongs to Johny Vassbakk. Arnoud Kal of NFI said in the trial that there was relevant information in the new analyses, but that they had to be used with caution. The defenders had also brought in an expert, who warned against relying solely on DNA evidence to convict a defendant in a criminal case. The defenders have also emphasized that Vassbakk’s DNA may have gotten on Birgitte Teng’s pantyhose via contamination, i.e. via indirect contact.
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Johny Vassbakk is acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
