The Girona Court has acquitted the defendant who was facing a 6-year sentence for sexually abusing an 18-year-old girl in a Girona nightclub at dawn on November 14, 2021. The sentence states that the defendant and the girl met inside the premises on Figuerola street and that they went to the bar together for him to invite her to a shot.
The court concludes that they kissed there, but rules out that, afterward, the defendant touched her genitals under her dress. According to the ruling, the victim’s story is “coherent and persistent” but there is no evidence to corroborate it. The room also regrets not having any direct testimony of the facts, although there were more people in the premises.
The judgment of the third section of the Girona Court, of which magistrate Juan Mora has been a speaker, states that around two in the morning of November 14, 2021, the defendant and the woman coincided inside the disco. They went to the bar together so that he wanted to invite her to have a drink from her: “He invited her to drink one or two shots.”
“It is proven that, in the bar, the two kissed consensually, without it being possible to determine if it was an erotic kiss or a simple greeting.” It continues to be exposed in court, which includes the first discrepancies between the complainant’s and the defendant’s accounts. At the trial, the woman explained that they began to kiss, but she stopped when she realized that he was 50 years old. The defendant, on the contrary, said that there were only two greeting kisses, but that some of them may have been closer to the corner of the lip.
The young woman recounted that, despite being told to stop, the defendant did not do so and ended up touching her genitals under her dress against her will. The man denied it. The ruling concludes that the facts denounced “have not been proven.” In addition, it rules out, due to lack of evidence, that the victim had the faculties “affected” by the consumption of alcohol or that she had been the victim of some type of chemical submission because she assured that, after taking the shots, she does not remember anything.
The ruling argues that the victim’s statement is “coherent and persistent” but that there is no type of evidence that serves as “peripheral corroboration” to undermine the presumption of innocence: “We find that the victim’s statement is devoid of sufficient evidence.” For this reason, the court points out that there is not enough evidence for the charge to issue a conviction because there are no witnesses at the time of the events and the forensic examiners did not appreciate the victim’s injuries.
“Since innocence is based, it is the responsibility of the prosecution to provide proof of guilt and acquittal must be carried out, although innocence could not be clearly demonstrated either,” the Court concludes.
In addition, the Chamber also regrets that there is no witness who was able to describe the meeting of the defendant and the victim in the bar. “These types of crimes usually occur clandestinely, and that prevents or makes it difficult for witnesses to be present. But this case presents a peculiarity and that is that it happens at the bar of an establishment with a lot of people”, argues the court. In addition, it stresses that, despite the fact that “it is true that the absence of witnesses does not rule out that the events occurred as the accusation narrates”, the Mossos who went to the premises did not collect the data of more people who could have seen something and testify as witnesses at trial.
The sentence is not final and can be appealed by filing appeals in the TSJC.
