During a 13-year tenure on the bench , Stern presided over a variety of civil and criminal cases . However , his judicial service is best remembered for the unique case of '' United States v. Tiede '' , an aircraft hijacking prosecution that was the sole case ever tried in the United States Court for Berlin , over which he was specially designated to preside by selection of the United States Department of State . In a published opinion , '' United States v. Tiede '' , 86 F.R.D. 227 ( D. Berlin 1979 ) , Stern held that even though the case involved prosecution of German citizens in an unusual forum outside the United States , the defendants were still parties to an American criminal proceeding and entitled to the United States Constitution 's guarantee of trial by jury . Stern later authored '' Judgment in Berlin '' , a book about his experiences in the '' Tiede '' case which was made into a film
United States Court for Berlin
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking
Herbert Jay Stern