German top court overturns murder verdict in drag-race case

BERLIN – A German federal appeals court has reversed the murder conviction of two men whose midnight drag race along a Berlin boulevard ended in the death of another motorist.

The Federal Court of Justice ruled Thursday the crime didn’t meet the legal requirements for murder and ordered a retrial.

Hamdi H. and Marvin N. were convicted last year in Berlin State Court and sentenced to life in prison for the Feb. 1, 2016 crime — the first time anyone was convicted of murder for a drag-racing fatality.

The two, then 26 and 24, raced at up to 170 kph (106 mph) through multiple red lights on Berlin’s Kurfuerstendamm boulevard until Hamid H. ran into a Jeep, killing the 69-year-old driver. Marvin N. crashed into a concrete planter box, injuring his passenger.