Alexander Zverev has settled the assault cause relating to domestic abuse charges brought by his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, Brenda Patea, out of court.
The settlement was announced at the Tiergarten District Court in Berlin on Friday, June 7 — the day of Zverev’s French Open semifinal against Casper Ruud in Paris.
Tiergarten District Court spokesperson Inga Wahlen told The Athletic that “the court has terminated the proceedings according to Section 153a of the German code of criminal procedure.”
A decision reached under Section 153a means that no entry is made into Germany’s Federal Central Criminal Register, meaning that Zverev does not have a criminal record. It is used when an “offence,” defined under the terms of 153a as “a crime for which no more than a 1-year imprisonment is foreseen in the statutory range of punishment,” is at issue.
“The decision was made with the consent of the public prosecution office,” Wahlen continued. “The defendant must pay an amount of €200,000 ($218k). Of this, €150,000 goes to the state treasury, the rest goes to non-profit organisations.
“The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence. One decisive factor for the court decision was that the witness has expressed her wish to end the trial. The defendant agreed to the termination of the case.”
Wahlen also confirmed that the settlement terminates the penalty order imposed by the court in October, which was in the amount of €450,000 ($489,000; £384,000.)
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Zverev’s defence attorneys, Dr. Anna Sophie Heuchemer and Katharina Dierlamm, also published a statement following the decision.
“The criminal proceedings against Alexander Zverev were discontinued today by the court with the consent of the public prosecutor, Ms. Brenda Patea as co-plaintiff and Alexander Zverev’s defense attorney,” they said.
“Alexander Zverev agreed to this discontinuation through his defense attorney solely to shorten the proceedings — above all in the interest of their child. Alexander Zverev is still considered innocent.
“The discontinuation does not constitute a finding of guilt or an admission of guilt. The legal presumption of innocence remains unaffected.”
The Athletic has approached Patea’s lawyers for comment. Neither party’s lawyers have commented on the nature of the out-of-court settlement.
The settlement came after Patea gave her testimony behind closed doors at the start of the week. Zverev’s lawyer, Dr Alfred Dierlamm, made the request on Friday, May 31 on privacy grounds, at which point the court adjourned before judge Barbara Lüders granted the request on Monday morning. A person with knowledge of the case — speaking to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity — said that such a request coming directly from a defendant was unusual.
The request only applied to evidence from Patea, which began that day, and was the only evidence heard before the settlement was reached.
Zverev denied the charges but in October, the Berlin criminal court issued a penalty order, fining him €450,000 in connection with the case. In Germany, a prosecutor can seek a penalty order on cases it considers simple because there is compelling evidence that it should not require a trial. This public trial was required because of Zverev’s appeal of that penalty order, which is the reason for his paying court proceedings.
The trial into Zverev’s appeal of the penalty order had been scheduled to run over non-consecutive days through June and into July, during both Wimbledon and the Olympics.
(Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)