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Sunday, May 08, 2005 Justice eludes grieving parents By Stephanie Slater Palm Beach Post Staff Writer BOCA RATON - Gail and Walter Schroeder know the name of the woman who killed their 9-year-old daughter. They know what she looks like. They know where she lives. So do police. But five years after Engel Schroeder died in a car crash in Boca Raton, Brigitte Hartwig has started a new life in her old country. And South Florida authorities, who have charged Hartwig with the little girl's death, say they are powerless to bring her back for trial. Authorities know Hartwig, 61, is living in her native Germany, which doesn't extradite its nationals. That doesn't mean she can't be tried for the homicide, officials said. But if she is, it will be in a German court. If she were to cross over into any of the eight countries bordering Germany, she would run the risk of being caught and brought back to Palm Beach County. The state attorney's office says the U.S. and German governments are discussing the case. Assistant State Attorney Pamela Browne then will speak with German prosecutors about bringing Hartwig to trial there. "We just need a little time," Browne said. The Schroeder family says time is up. They are tired of living in limbo. "No one seems to have answers to help us," Gail Schroeder said. "It's almost like ripping that scab off that you tried to have heal. Just grieving your child alone is hard enough." The blonde third-grader's portrait, bedecked with yellow silk flowers, rests on the guardrail at the corner of Military and Verde trails. It's the family's reminder to the community that a little girl lost her life there on May 8, 2000. Shortly after 9 p.m. that day, Hartwig ran a red light and plowed her BMW into the passenger side of Gail Schroeder's minivan. Schroeder was knocked unconscious. Her daughter, who once befriended a bullied classmate and sold lemonade to raise money for homeless animals, died 15 hours later. Hartwig was treated for minor injuries at the scene. Police say she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.059 percent, less than the 0.08 percent at which the state presumes a person is too drunk to drive. "Her poor judgment that evening has ruined our lives," Gail Schroeder said. In December of 2000, police recommended charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide and the state attorney's office agreed. The state attorney's office would not comment on the charges. The following month, a judge signed a warrant for Hartwig's arrest. By that time, Hartwig had sold her suburban Boca Raton home for $200,000. She signed the deed to sell her Hammock Point Drive house on Dec. 29, 2000, property records show. It is unclear when Hartwig left the country. The Schroeders say Assistant State Attorney Ellen Roberts told them Hartwig made arrangements with the state attorney's office to spend Christmas at home and then turn herself in to police. "I'm mad at the system for granting her those few days so she could set herself up to flee," Walter Schroeder said. Roberts said she never told the couple there was an agreement and does not think one was made. Hartwig's defense attorney, John Tierney, also said there was no deal. "She certainly didn't breach any agreements with anyone," Tierney said. Tierney said he has not heard from Hartwig and does not know where she is. He has, however, spoken with one of her family members. Tierney declined to say whom he talked to and what was said. Hartwig's daughter, New York City lawyer Thekla B. Fischer, did not return calls for comment. "We felt strongly then, and we still do now, that if this case was tried, she would be vindicated," Tierney said. "If they had a good case, they would have proceeded a lot quicker." Boca Raton police Capt. Matt Duggan said it is not unusual for a traffic homicide investigation to take six to nine months because investigators have to re-create the crash scene, interview witnesses and wait for toxicology results. "No one wants to present a case half finished and then run into issues of speedy trial," Duggan said. Florida law requires a defendant to be tried within 180 days of arrest for a felony. Almost inevitably, law enforcement will not make a premature arrest in a traffic homicide case unless there is an obvious issue of an individual who could be a flight risk or danger to society, said Mike Edmondson, state attorney's office spokesman. There weren't any facts to suggest Hartwig was a flight risk, Edmondson said. Interpol has issued an international "Red Notice" for Hartwig. If she law enforcement officers stopped her anywhere in the world, that notice would tell officers she was wanted by the United States. Hartwig, however, could get into seven countries bordering Germany that are members of the European Union without being asked for a passport or having an Interpol check run, said Houston attorney Douglas McNabb, who specializes in international extradition. She would be noticed in those countries only if she got in trouble with the law. It's still likely she could slip up, McNabb said. "They become, over time, desensitized to the seriousness of the case and feel that they are not going to get caught," McNabb said. "The family is going to have to wait until this lady is not cautious enough." The Schroeders aren't counting on Hartwig's making that mistake. "She's a smart woman," Gail Schroeder said. "She went there knowing she'd be protected." | |