Homelessness: Homeless man in court – He hears voices but doesn’t speak a word

“But it’s still a human being,” his public defender was heard saying; Jörn Manhart during the break in the hallway of the Moabit regional court in Berlin. For attempted grievous bodily harm, physical assault and resistance to law enforcement officers, the Grand Criminal Chamber recently heard proceedings in Hall 806 against Dennis S. – a homeless man whose almost childlike appearance makes it impossible to trust him to commit such crimes. The 30-year-old also suffers from paranoid schizophrenia: he hears voices but doesn’t speak a word himself.

The expert, a forensic psychiatrist, says that S. uses his silence to protect his inner life from the outside world because he fears that his sentences will be used against him. In addition, he only has limited cognitive ability to follow what is happening in court. Dennis S. just sits there, next to his lawyer and the social worker from the clinic, and looks out the window with a sad look. And sometimes the voices he hears are nice to him too. Then he smiles for a moment and nods. Not much is known about him. Born in Pirmasens, completed secondary school, canceled military service due to massive consumption of various addictive substances. The parents, the lawyer suspects, were perhaps late repatriates. The defendant himself also remains silent about this.

But this much is certain: Dennis S. cannot stand being touched, according to witness Mehmet K., owner of a Späti near Ostkreuz. S. camped in front of his shop for over four months and only ever bought beer, “Sternburger”. He got food from the people who passed by outside; Some even bought food for him at Späti. Only: “One day he’s quiet, but then he’s a different person and shouts around.” The shops in the neighborhood have the same problems. Apparently S. always freaks out, he’s seething inside him, although he was never drunk. Then one day, specifically: on August 11, 2023, the man came into his shop, grabbed a bottle of wine and ran out with it, so that Mehmet K. had to run after him. When he was able to catch the fugitive and the bottle and hold him by his clothes, the defendant became beside himself and scratched his neck and tore his T-shirt. Was that all, you ask yourself. Hence the process?

The other charges are similar. While stealing some cereal, the police found a kitchen knife in Dennis S.’s pocket – “theft with a weapon.” Two years ago in Görlitzer Park: the officials had sent Dennis S. off. And when a short time later an unsuspecting BSR man went into action and wanted to dispose of the large number of bags and bags lying on the floor, someone shouted and attacked him with a stick. However, the witness in court did not want to confirm whether this was the defendant. What is confirmed, however, is the complete failure of the welfare state. Poverty is perceived as an aesthetic problem.

A difficult situation for his lawyer: If he were acquitted, Dennis S. would end up back on the street the same day and the same story would start all over again: collecting bottles, yelling at people and stealing. A guilty verdict could, in turn, lead to his incompetent client being locked up in the Karl Bonhoeffer Mental Hospital for many years. It is doubtful whether schizophrenia can be treated better at “Bonnie’s Ranch” than in a “normal” psychiatric clinic.

Jörn Manhart doesn’t know how his client has spent the last few years. He will have avoided the offers offered by Berlin’s homeless assistance service, such as low-threshold night cafes in churches – the smells, the noise, too many people, too many languages. Homeless people often experience violence and theft at the hands of other homeless people, and Dennis S. will also have had similar experiences. Years ago, ICHTYS is said to have taken care of him – the “Christian Social Work” in Blankenfelde-Mahlow near Berlin. However, S. continued to consume alcohol, amphetamines and cannabis. The actual reason for the separation may have been due to the severity of schizophrenia – a neurological disease that exists regardless of substance use. The helpers at ICHTYS will simply have been overwhelmed.

Dennis S. has been living on the street since 2017 at the latest. According to the expert, the defendant was tormented by two enormous tasks every day: On the one hand, he had to cope with the psychotic experience, the delusional experience and the voices that S. hears. On the other hand, S. had to secure his existence, hence the petty thefts, which repeatedly caused trouble with the police. The expert reports on several psychiatric stays, but also on an admission to the Hennigsdorf Clinic, where the doctors fought for his life. S. collapsed due to acute anemia. The poor diet, especially the vitamin deficiency, had led to anemia and a severe lack of red blood cells. Because Dennis S. still has no health insurance to this day, the Hennigsdorf Clinic continued to provide basic care for acute complaints; There was no further treatment for his schizophrenia.

On February 3rd of this year, the arrest finally took place, against which the defendant defended himself with all his might. On that day, Dennis S. is said to have been completely neglected, infested with lice all over his body and without any “willingness to communicate”. From the Moabit pre-trial detention center, S. was taken to the Plötzensee JVA hospital. A guardian was appointed by the court, but her help is limited – Dennis S. is one of eighty clients. Two months ago, S. was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital by order of the district court. The Schlosspark-Klinik Charlottenburg was obliged to accept the patient as the regular provider, regardless of the unresolved assumption of costs.

And now? This man is not guilty, and society does not need to be protected from him. But neither a guilty verdict nor an acquittal helps, not the state and certainly not the defendant. Kristin Klimke, the presiding judge, recognized the dilemma. Her questions to the supervisor and the social worker from the Schlosspark Clinic show that she wants to give the defendant a perspective…

If the social welfare office shows responsibility, says the supervisor, the housing issue for S. can also be addressed. Unfortunately, after almost two months, the AOK has still not processed the application for membership. The fund would then retroactively cover the costs of the stay in the Schlosspark Clinic. But all of this takes time. However, the supervisor sees no need to extend the stay in the Schlosspark Clinic. Their doctors said that S.’s condition was “chronic” and that therapy would not lead to any improvement. Above all, however, the Charlottenburg district office must finally take responsibility. But there the application was referred to the job center because Dennis S. was of working age. The job center, in turn, rejects responsibility because, with his schizophrenia, he is not available for the job market – an official ping-pong that could hardly be more inhumane.

In any case, the carer for Dennis S. first wants to look for accommodation in a hostel for homeless people. This would then also clarify the responsibility of the district office, as well as health insurance. The presiding judge asks the defendant: “Is it okay with you?” No answer. Judge Klimke replied: “It’s best if he stays in the clinic until everything is clarified.”

On the next day of the trial, there was great disillusionment: the Schlosspark Clinic discharged Dennis S., without ID and without a cell phone. There is talk of a scandal. “We would have needed a few more weeks,” says the presiding judge. In the end, the defendant, who no one knows where he is or how he is doing, is acquitted on all counts. He is even entitled to compensation, at least 4,525 euros. Not a word about how the man is supposed to find out about the windfall. Maybe the next time you get arrested?