The first section of the Provincial Court of A Coruña has sentenced between 20 and 24 years in prison for the three adults who murdered Samuel Luiz and 10 years for his accomplice, at the same time that he has acquitted the only woman accused. In total, the sentences amount to 74 and a half years in prison for the four people found guilty.
Samuel Luiz was murdered in the early morning of July 3, 2021 in front of the Riazor beach in A Coruña, in a case that has been confirmed since this Wednesday. judicial resolution for the seven people involvedwith six convicted – two minors who were in another trial – and a woman acquitted.
The sentence imposes 24 years in prison for the main accused, Diego Montañawho attacked him shouting “faggot”, when the aggravating circumstance of discrimination based on sexual orientation occurred. This is a sentence very close to the legal maximum -25 years-, which does not apply because the jury did not appreciate the aggravating factor of cruelty.
Meanwhile, the judge adds 20 years for Alejandro Freire ‘Yumba‘; It explains that the absence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances determines the imposition of the sentence in its lower half, which covers a punitive range that ranges from 15 to 20 years in prison.
In the same way, it imposes 20 years and six months for Kaio Amaral Silva17 years for the murder and three and a half years for the violent robbery of the victim’s cell phone. The sentence indicates that his intervention in the murder “does not reach the magnitude” of that of Diego Montaña and Alejandro Freire, according to the verdict of the Jury Court.
Finally, Alejandro Míguez has been sentenced to 10 years in prison since, since it is an accomplice to murder, it indicates that it is appropriate to impose the lowest sentence in degree which, in this case, covers a punitive range of 7 and a half to 15 years in prison.
The four of them will have to compensate the family of Samuel Luiz with 304,000 euros and after leaving prison they will have five years of supervised freedom. The ruling is not final and there is an appeal against it before the Superior Court of Xustiza of Galicia.
Katy Silva and the two minors
These four convicts are added two young people who were minors at the time of the events, David Rodríguez ‘Pompo’ and Marco Figueras, sentenced to three and a half years of confinement, which they serve this month. About the acquittal of Catherine ‘Katy’ Silva He remembers that the jury saw proof that he “tried to push away” his then partner, Diego Montaña, which fits with his previous and subsequent attitudes, with anger and the reproach of “you went too far.”
“His intention was to separate Diego Montaña because it was consistent with his previous acts (trying to contain Diego Montaña) and with his subsequent acts compatible with the thesis of his defense, which in purity is nothing more than the application of the principle in dubio pro reo since, given the alternatives proposed, The jurors have opted for the exculpatory thesis, favorable to the accused“, he says.
Regarding the participation of Alejandro Míguez as an accomplice, the ruling recalls that he said: “I couldn’t do anything because a black man pushed me”. Despite it not having been proven that he had physical contact with Samuel Luiz, “his actions cannot be described as innocuous either” because he was in the group, confirmed the fact, made the defense difficult and prevented the escape.
Regarding the modifying circumstances of criminal responsibility, The sentence appreciates the treachery -necessary to qualify as murder- due to the impossibility of the victim’s defense, but rules out cruelty -causing unnecessary suffering- because the autopsy revealed that “all the blows were necessary to cause death.”
It also places the discrimination based on sexual orientation as an aggravating circumstance for Diego Montaña and discards the mitigating circumstances of having consumed drugs and alcohol for all cases.
This ruling is drafted in accordance with the facts declared proven by the popular jurywhich the judge sees as motivated. Thus, it warns that the parties did not request the return of the verdict at the time “so there is no doubt that, by not doing so, they are satisfied with the sufficiency of said motivation.”
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