Dani Alves case: read here all the details of his conviction for sexual abuse of a young woman

The Barcelona hearing sentenced the former soccer player to 4 years and 6 months in prison Dani Alves in the first major media case for rape judged under the new paradigm of the law of only yes means yes, with consent as the axis of the crime of sexual assault.

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The sentence, which repeatedly alludes to the fact that the lack of consent is enough to prove a rape without the need for “heroic” resistance from the victim, has at the same time ended up benefiting the footballer by applying the first draft of the former minister's law to him. Irene Monteroin force when the events occurred and which reduced the minimum sentence for sexual assault to four years.

Keys to the sentence

The Barcelona hearing It is based on the premise that to prove the existence of a sexual assault it is not necessary that physical injuries occur or that there be evidence of a “heroic opposition” of the victim to maintaining relations: the key is consent, which can be revoked at any time. .

In the case of rape committed by Alves, The victim suffered injuries to one knee, which for the Audience makes “more than evident” the existence of violence to “force her will” in the absence of consent: the soccer player did not let her leave even though she asked to be let go and his violent attitude plunged her into “anguish and terror.”

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The court argues that attitudes such as dancing in a suggestive manner or hugging do not mean giving “carte blanche” to any abuse or aggression that occurs subsequently: consent in sexual relations not only can be revoked at any time but it is also necessary that lends itself to each of the sexual varieties within a sexual encounter.

“In the area where a subsequent sexual assaultit should be noted that neither the fact that the complainant danced in a suggestive manner, nor that she brought her buttocks closer to the accused, or that she even hugged the accused, can lead us to assume that she gave her consent to everything that could subsequently happen,” explains the document of the conviction of the Barcelona Court.

“These attitudes or even the existence of insinuations do not mean giving carte blanche to any abuse or aggression that occurs subsequently; consent in sexual relations must always be given before and even during the practice of sex, in such a way that a person can agree to maintain relationships to a certain extent and not show consent to continue, or not to carry out certain sexual behaviors or do so according to some conditions and not others,” the document adds.

“What's more, consent must be given for each of the varieties of sexual relations within a sexual encounter, since someone may be willing to perform touching without this implying that they agree to penetration, or oral but not vaginal sex, “or vaginal sex but not anal, or sex only with a condom and not without it. Even the fact that touching had been performed would not imply having given consent for everything else.”

The credibility of the victim

The Audience has “no doubt” that the rape was perpetrated using violence because both the victim's account of what happened inside the bathroom, which has been “coherent and especially persistent”, and the peripheral evidence prove this, including the knee injury that the girl suffered, her subsequent reaction and Alves' hasty exit from the nightclub avoiding her.

The court recognizes that the victim's credibility is affected because they have detected some “deficits” between what she explained happened before entering the bathroom and what is seen in the security camera images, although this does not invalidate her version. about the “basic core” of the conduct attributed to the footballer inside the bathroom.

The court applies the mitigating circumstance of reparation of damage – only as a simple one – for the 150,000 euros that Alves handed over to the court, in accordance with the bail that the investigating judge imposed on him when she prosecuted him for sexual assault. The footballer then requested that that amount be delivered to the victim, without conditions.

It is a mitigating circumstance that the accusations discuss, with the argument that it is not an amount that the defendant voluntarily gave to the victim to compensate her for the damages caused, but that it was set as bail, under the warning of embargo. They also reason that it has unfairly benefited Alves for its advantageous economic capacity.

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The court rejects, however, the mitigating circumstance of drunkenness put forward by the defense, for not having proven that Alves had his cognitive faculties affected by alcohol, as well as the violation of fundamental rights: he rules out that he was investigated behind his back or that he was harmed by possible parallel trials.

Law of only yes is yes

Daniel Alves He committed the violation on the night of December 30, 2022, when the “yes is yes” law promoted by former Minister of Equality Irene Montero was in force, which was reformed in March 2023 under an agreement between PSOE and PP after the controversy. due to the unexpected sentence reductions and releases of rapists.

In its initial draft, the law reduced the minimum sentence for sexual assault to four years in prison, which has allowed the court to mitigate the footballer's sentence in accordance with the most favorable legislation. After the reforms promoted by the PSOE, Alves He would have been sentenced to at least six years in prison, given that this is again the minimum for violent sexual assault.

The reforms approved by PSOE and PP – which Unidas Podemos opposed because they once again placed violence as an aggravating factor in rape – did not, however, reformulate the spirit of the law, based on the lack of consent to prove a sexual assault, a essential issue in Alves' ruling.

Alves' defense will appeal

The lawyer of Alves, Ines Guardiola, has announced that he will appeal the sentence to “defend his innocence until the end”, while the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution have yet to study it, although the complainant's legal team has anticipated that they are satisfied that the “truth” of the victim and her suffering has been recognized.

Once the appeals against the sentence are formalized, the Court will resolve the request made by the defense after the trial so that Alves, who has been in preventive detention for just over a year, be released.

Dani Alves who entered preventive detention in the Brians prison (Barcelona) on January 20, 2023, will not be able to access prison benefits until his sentence is final.

If the Court confirmed the sentence, he could immediately obtain prison permits – they are granted once a quarter of the sentence has been served – and nothing would prevent him from achieving the third degree, which only requires him to go to prison to sleep. In fact, one in every two inmates Catalonia They access the open regime before half of their sentence.

PDF of the sentence against Dani Alves

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With information from EFE.

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