The man accused of letting his mother die in Torrelavega was remanded in provisional prison this Wednesday until there is a final sentence, by order of the president of the jury that is prosecuting the events this week in the Provincial Court of Cantabria and after the defendant did not appear at the beginning of the second session of the hearing, at ten in the morning.
“I fell asleep,” he justified from the bench two and a half hours later, once he was located and taken to the Las Salesas judicial complex in Santander by the National Police, following the search and immediate arrest order decreed by the magistrate.
Thus, the plenary session has been able to resume and his imprisonment in El Dueso has been decreed, in a communicated manner and without bail, at the request of the prosecutor and with the opposition of the defense lawyer, who has highlighted the “good disposition” of his client during the instruction for the death of his mother, in April 2021.
But the representative of the public ministry understands instead that there is an “obvious” risk of escape, since he has not appeared when he was summoned and has had to be arrested, and also taking into account the imminent end of the trial, this Thursday.
“The prosecutor is lying,” said the accused in response to this request, who faces 16 years in prison as requested by both parties, and who has argued that he is “aware” of this process and what he is accused of. .
At this point, he has alleged that he called his former lawyer, who represented him until last Friday, at 10:06 a.m. (that is, six minutes after the scheduled start of this session), to inform him that he had fallen asleep, and it is in that moment when, as he has said, he learned from his previous legal representative that a search and arrest warrant had been issued against him.
In any case, once taken by the police to the Cantabria Court, the president of the court and the First Section has signed the order of entry into preventive detention, to ensure his attendance on the last day of the trial and until the final sentence.
The hearing began on Monday with the interrogation of the defendant – who admitted that he noticed his mother’s deterioration and left her like that until she died, at the age of 84 – and the testimony of the witnesses – police officers who appeared at the home after the death of the woman.
The agents corroborated the state of “total abandonment” in which the victim was found, as well as the dirt and disorder that was in the bedroom and in the entire house as well.
The hearing continued this Wednesday, after being suspended for about two and a half hours and the aforementioned arrest order was issued and the subsequent order of admission to prison, with the appearance of the forensic experts who recognized the defendant on Tuesday to determine his state of mental health. and if he had any condition that impaired his faculties. And it has continued with the conclusions and final reports of the Prosecutor’s Office and Defense.
The man is prosecuted for having his mother, who was dependent, in a situation of abandonment and neglect until she was allowed to die, a fact that he acknowledged when questioned by the prosecutor, although he alleged in this regard that he does not have “medical knowledge.”
He also indicated to the public prosecution that his mother “moved” or “got up” from the bed to go to the bathroom, for example, so not leaving the room or not wanting to see anyone “was her decision.” However, she admitted that in the end her deterioration was such and she was so weak that she could not get out of bed.
The prosecutor requested an initial sentence of 20 years in prison for him for intentional homicide by omission, which he has reduced to 16, the same amount requested by his lawyer, as both parties understand that the aggravating circumstance of kinship cannot be applied in this case nor can other mitigating factors.
The trial will conclude this Thursday with the jury’s deliberation and verdict, when it will be heard for sentencing.
