German court restarts trial after judge repeatedly nods off

BERLIN – A German court had to restart the trial of two men suspected of robbing a grocery store because a judge kept nodding off during the proceedings.

The Muenster state court told the dpa news agency on Tuesday that the presiding judge decided it was better to start things over than provide immediate grounds for an appeal.

German trials are typically heard by a panel of five judges — three professionals and two lay judges. In this case, it was one of the lay judges who couldn’t stay awake on Monday.

Fortunately, it was the first day of the trial and it was able to start again from scratch after an alternate judge took his place.

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