El magistrado issues an acquittal ruling, and the accused, who has been in prison for over two years, is now free
The jurors believe that it cannot be determined that the suspect was at the scene of the alleged crime
PALMA, 12 (EUROPA PRESS)
The jury has declared the accused in the Es Carnatge murder case not guilty, who was facing 20 years in prison for allegedly killing a man and then setting fire to the shack where he lived to conceal the crime.
The nine jury members, who have been deliberating since last Tuesday, have voted five to four that there is not enough evidence to convict the suspect, and therefore, he should be acquitted of the murder charge he was facing.
Among other things, they have considered that the evidence does not definitively prove that the accused was at the scene of the crime the night the victim died, as it cannot be verified based on the location of his mobile phone, and the motive for the crime has not been convincingly established either.
To deliver their verdict of not guilty, the members of the jury also took into account that the weapon allegedly used to kill the victim was not found, and it cannot be verified whether the car captured near the scene of the death belonged to the accused or was occupied by him.
They argued that the scene of the crime «was altered by third parties and was not properly preserved,» and no objects or evidence linking the defendant were found there. The testimonies of the witnesses, on the other hand, were «contradictory and unclear.»
AN HOUR OF UNCERTAINTY
After the spokesperson for the jury read the verdict and presented the reasoning that led them to consider the defendant not guilty, the prosecutor requested a recess to clarify a point.
In their opinion, as it was written, at one point, the jury members seemed to say that it could not be proven that the accused was driving the suspicious vehicle identified near the scene, and at another point—according to their interpretation—that he was indeed driving it.
Approximately an hour later, during which the parties presented their arguments, the jurors returned to the courtroom, the wording issue was corrected, and the presiding judge of the Provincial Court of Palma orally issued an acquittal ruling.
Therefore, the accused, who had been in pretrial detention for over two years since February 2023, has been released.
THE FACTS AND THE TRIAL
The events date back to the early morning of January 25, 2022, when a man was found dead inside a burned shack in Es Carnatge (Palma).
Although initially, the death appeared to be accidental due to a faulty stove combustion, upon confirming the violent death, the investigation led to the arrest in February 2023 of a 32-year-old Spanish man.
The Prosecutor was seeking 20 years in prison for him as the alleged perpetrator of a murder, considering the investigation to be «impeccable» and proving the facts despite the lack of witnesses.
The prosecutor based their accusation, among other things, on the belief that the accused was the only person with whom the victim had issues and that his phone was the only one located at the scene and time of the alleged crime.
The private prosecution, representing the family, requested 25 years in prison, arguing that besides committing the murder, he had hidden the body. They believed that by denying his involvement and claiming he was «set up,» the accused attempted to deceive the jury.
The defense attorney, on the other hand, had been advocating for an acquittal from the start, alleging that the investigation was biased and filled with «speculations.» She pointed out at the end of the trial that the police report omitted information about items found at the scene of the death and security camera footage. «There is not a single direct piece of evidence. Only circumstantial evidence, which also needs to be proven,» she argued.
The accused, who was the last to testify, stated that the last time he saw the victim, with whom he had a cordial relationship and occasionally visited, was a few weeks before the incident. He also denied that the vehicle seen in the security footage belonged to him and claimed that he felt «very pressured» during his interrogation. «They told me they would help me, and like an idiot, I believed it,» he lamented.
In addition to his attorney, the accused answered about twenty questions from the jury members who on Thursday found him not guilty of the charges against him.