The Supreme Court has acquitted Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, known as Little Nicolás, of his 3-year prison sentence for having posed as a liaison of the Government and the Royal House on a trip to Ribadeo (Lugo) in 2014.
As reported by the TS, the magistrates have concluded that Gómez Iglesias’ conduct consisted of a single impersonation action: the organization and presence at a meal with a businessman posing as a liaison between the Vice Presidency of the Government and the Royal House.
The high court has explained that the defendant’s action, according to the sentencing report, lacked the note of plurality that the Penal Code demands. And he insisted that it was “a meal without political or economic content that does not fit into the concept of an official act and was said to hold a non-existent position.”
The magistrates have concluded that the combination of these factors does not make it possible for the act to fit into the crime of usurpation of public functions. “A simple act of boasting was carried out, criminally atypical,” the Second Chamber noted.
In relation to the crime of bribery, the court has considered that, given the specific circumstances of this case, giving remuneration to a local police officer for organizing an escort service unrelated to any public function “does not constitute the crime of bribery.” “, without prejudice to the responsibilities that may arise in the administrative field.”
In this sense, the Supreme Court has recalled that the crime of bribery requires that the remuneration offered or given to the official be for acts related to the exercise of the position he or she performs and in this case both the person who gave the remuneration and the person who received it knew that No act related to the official’s activity was carried out.
According to the court, in the proven facts of the contested sentence it was stated that both knew that what was going to be done was a masquerade, a drill and the act took place outside the town where the police officer works and outside his hours of service.
Thus, they have determined that “there was no commitment to the public function and, therefore, there was no impact on the legal good protected by the crime of bribery.”
Gómez Iglesias is not currently serving a prison sentence, since the only firm sentence he had was in the DNI case, for one year and nine months, which, being less than two years, did not entail his admission. By obtaining acquittal in the Ribadeo case, he will be able to remain free.
The young man’s defense had gone to the Supreme Court considering that the Provincial Court violated his right to effective judicial protection, his right to the presumption of innocence, the inviolability of his home, his personal and virtual privacy and the principle of proportionality.
In the appeal, Gómez Iglesias’ legal team defended that the search that was carried out in the young man’s home at the beginning of the investigation should be declared null because, among other issues, “no type of distinction or discrimination was made when seizing of all the data that was found” on the mobile devices, computers and tablets that were in the home.
The defense insisted that in this case “it is concluded that the actions of the accused, a 19-year-old young man, consisted of enjoying a seafood restaurant with a businessman, whom he had informed was a liaison between the Vice Presidency of the Government and the Royal House — non-existent position–, and in order to impress him he hired high-end vehicles and security personnel that reinforced the image of being someone important, without it being recorded that he requested or raised anything due to his fictitious position. “Do these events constitute typical behavior? Undoubtedly not. Our Penal Code does not recognize the crime of boasting,” the defense pointed out.
It should be remembered that, on the sidelines, Little Nicolás has two other pending sentences that are not yet final: the sentence of four years and three months in prison and a fine of 4,200 euros for having accessed “confidential” information in databases in 2014. police; and the sentence of three years and five months for impersonating a member of the Government in the sale of the La Alamedilla property.
