Rolf Bossi (10 September 1923 – 22 December 2015) was a German

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. He was known for defending prominent actors such as

Ingrid van Bergen Ingrid van Bergen (; born 15 June 1931) is a German film actress. She has appeared in 100 films since 1954. She was born in Free City of Danzig, today Gdańsk, Poland. Career Since 1954, Ingrid van Bergen appeared in more than 170 film and tele ...

and

Romy Schneider Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally as Romy Schneider (), was a German and French actress. She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to ...

, as well as criminals such as Jürgen Bartsch, Dieter Zlof, and Dieter Degowski. He defended four former

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

border guards who were accused of having killed

Chris Gueffroy Chris Gueffroy (21 June 1968 – 6 February 1989) was the last person to be shot and the second-last to die in an escape attempt while trying to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin across the Berlin Wall. Biography Chris Gueffroy was bo ...

, who was trying to escape over the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. He was considered to be one of Germany's best-known defense lawyers. He wrote an autobiography, appeared in talk shows and even had two film roles.

References

1923 births 2015 deaths Lawyers from Munich 20th-century German lawyers Jurists from Bavaria {{Germany-law-bio-stub