The Supreme Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has declared null the acquittal against the elderly man from Porreres (Mallorca) who shot dead one of the thieves who attacked his house in 2018. In its ruling it is understood that They have violated “essential rules of procedure”, which has caused defenselessness during the verdict.
In this way, the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands accepts the appeal of the prosecutor and declares the acquittal null and void and orders that the trial be repeated with another popular jury and a different presiding magistrate. The homeowner’s defense requested that the Prosecutor’s appeal not be admitted.
In the review of the trial, the decision to convict the defendants of robbery will be preserved, given that the facts prosecuted are not “divisible,” the magistrates point out. It will have to be judged again whether Pau Rigo murdered one of the thieves who broke into his house or robbed him or whether he acted in self-defense.
The Superior Court’s decision returns the case to its original point, a new trial, after a jury initially found Pau Rigo guilty with an insufficient majority. Given the doubts that were raised during the trial, a judge later opted for acquittal. The TSJIB’s decision forces a new process from the beginning.
The events date back to 2018, when several young people attacked the retiree’s home, a house in the municipality of Porreres. The man was detained by the assailants when he was leaving his home and they forced him to open the safe, which contained 15,000 euros. The thieves considered the amount insufficient and beat Rigo to get him to give them more. At one point, the man managed to get away and took a gun that he had at home and that was loaded.
He shot one of the assailants from a distance of one and a half meters and the man died. Another of the thieves started a struggle with the retiree and managed to snatch his weapon. The three assailants left the home and carried the injured man to a hospital in Mallorca, where he died after hemorrhagic shock.
