On July 24, 1961 Leibbrand was arrested on behalf of the Stuttgart District Court at
Frankfurt airport, because of a command he issued as a lieutenant in August 1944 during World War II, in
Orange, Vaucluse near
Avignon, which led to 28 Italian volunteers of the 6th Company of the Pioneer Regiment of the 19th Army being shot down with machine guns after having mutinied when the company withdrew. A company officer ordered the unsuspecting "Hiwis" in the middle of the night to enter a small forest meadow, where they were shot. Six of them were able to escape in the dark. According to
Der Spiegel, 26 were killed and five seriously injured. Citing a lack of evidence, the Stuttgart jury released Leibbrand on 2 October 1962 from the charge of murder. Then he returned to Zurich, but not to the chair from which he was on leave. The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe overturned the verdict and dismissed the case for reassessment to the Stuttgart court. On January 10, 1966 Leibbrand stood for the second time in Stuttgart in court. Despite the charge of murder, his deed was counted as manslaughter and set the procedure for prescription. ==Awards==