The Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Balearic Islands has upheld the Public Prosecutor's appeal against the verdict acquitting the man who shot dead a thief who entered his house in Porreres (Mallorca) in 2018. The Court annuls the verdict of acquittal and orders the repetition of the trial for violation of essential procedural rules causing defenselessness with regard to the verdict and the majorities necessary to obtain it.
According to the resolution, the hearing should take place with a different people's jury and a different chairman. “Looking at the proceedings, we are convinced, in accordance with the request of the Public Prosecution Service, that it is appropriate to annul this and the trial held, without it being possible to do so in part by convicting the suspect for theft, given that the prosecuted facts cannot be separated from each other,” the magistrates point out.
The Court refers to the doctrine of the Constitutional Court regarding the nullity of an acquittal pronounced by the Jury and annulled by the TSJ due to lack of motivation for the verdict. The TC's ruling “applies to the case under investigation.”
The magistrates assess the Public Prosecution Service's annulment claim and therefore do not decide on the appeal of the rest of the defenses. It is worth remembering that last Tuesday, May 7, the Court held a hearing in which the Public Prosecutor's Office and the procedural representation of two of the defendants requested that the judgment be annulled and therefore that the trial be repeated. On the other hand, the homeowner's defense argued that the appeal should be dismissed and the acquittal should be affirmed.
The decision is not final, an appeal is possible.