Three years after the brutal fight that ended the life of Samuel Luiz, just 24 years old, on the seafront of A Coruña, the popular jury has already issued its verdict after more than 21 days of trial and six days of deliberations. The jury – made up of nine people – has finally decided to convict three of the five accused of killing the young man for malicious murder and one of them will also have the aggravating circumstance of homophobia. The opinion also determines that a fourth defendant acted as an accomplice and has ended up acquitting the only woman accusedwho has been found not guilty.
The reading of the verdict, which took place this Sunday at the Provincial Court of A Coruña, has thus determined the main perpetrators of the crime: Diego Mountain -who started the fight-, Alejandro Freire and Kaio Amaral Silva. The three have been sentenced to murder with malice aforethought, ruling out the aggravating circumstance of cruelty (causing multiple unnecessary blows to cause death or prolonging agony and pain) that the Prosecutor’s Office also requested.
For Montaña, the jury considers it proven that he also developed an aggressive attitude due to the “sexual condition he attributed” to Samuelso it adds the aggravating circumstance of discrimination. Kaio Amaral, in addition, has also been convicted of a crime of robbery with forcesince he even stole the victim’s cell phone at the beginning of the attack.
The three main defendants were already in prison at the time of the events, so they will continue in jail waiting to know the sentence finally determined by the magistrate in the case. Who will have to go to prison after three years of provisional freedom will be Alejandro Miguez, whom the jury has determined acted as an accomplice to the facts since he actively participated to assist and facilitate the actions of otherswith which he accepted the possibility that they would cause his death.
The jury considers that the person who was the fifth accused of the events, Katy Silvais not linked to the crime since at first she tried to stop her partner at the time, Diego Montaña, although they recognize that she acted to make the defense impossible by separating a friend of Samuel’s who wanted to come to his aid. Despite this, the jury has ruled that There are no proven facts to charge him with the crime of murder or accomplice.
For the jury, those involved did not act as such with the intention of causing the death of Samuel Luiz, but They did carry out a series of acts in which they had to assume the possibility of a fatal outcome due to the risk of their actions. Furthermore, the jury also does not see the mitigating circumstances of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs that the defenses of Diego Montaña and Alejandro Freire had claimed. It should be noted that at the time of the events there were already two other people convicted of Samuel’s death who, being 17 and 16 years old, were sentenced to three and a half years of reeducation in a juvenile center.
How many years do they face?
Following the verdict, the four men already found guilty of the death of Samuel Luiz are now awaiting trial. know the prison sentences determined by the magistrate of the case depending on those raised during the trial. In this way, both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution, carried out by the family, and the popular one, carried out by the LGTBI group Alas Coruña, have specifically requested sentences for them of between 13 and 27 years.
For Diego Montaña, during the trial 25 years in prison have been requested In addition to the malicious murder, the aggravating circumstance of discrimination due to the sexual orientation of the victim is added. After reading the verdict, the prosecutor has once again requested this penalty by emphasizing that the events were “a group, gratuitous and cowardly attack.” His defense, however, asks that his sentence be reduced up to 20 years old.
In the case of Alejandro Freire, The prosecutor and the accusations ask for 22 yearswhile his defense demands that he be sentenced to 15. The third co-author of the events, Kaio Amaral, could face the same sentence of 22 years plus another five for the crime of robbery with force. His lawyer proposes a sentence of 15 years and two for the theft of the cell phone.
The person convicted as an accomplice, Alejandro Míguez, will have a shorter sentence than his companions. The prosecution and accusations demand 13 years in prison for himwhile the lawyer who exercises his defense has proposed a sentence of seven years and six months. Before the verdict, the Prosecutor’s Office and accusations also requested 25 years in prison for the acquitted woman for the crime of murder with premeditation and the mitigating circumstance of homophobia.
The defenses announce their resources
While still waiting to hear the sentences, the defenses of three of those convicted as the main perpetrators have announced that they will appeal the sentences that the magistrate ends up handing down. Thus, the defense of Kaio Amaral Silva has explained that in the case of his client The jury has not reached a unanimous decision to determine him guilty. of murder, but it has been obtained with seven votes out of the possible nine, the minimum required by law, so has been “convinced” that the “second part of this match” will be the appeal before the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia.
Likewise, the lawyer of Alejandro Míguez, an accomplice in the events, has shown “calm” as it is a “minor sentence”, although he has announced that he will continue with all the resources necessary to defend his client’s innocence. “It cannot be that Katy’s presence in the group means an acquittal and for my client it means a conviction,” he lamented.
Alejandro Freire’s lawyer has also spoken out, saying that this verdict was expected, but that there are issues that are “challengeable and are fightable on appeal” as the extenuating circumstances of his client having consumed alcohol and drugs. The lawyer who defends Diego Montaña He has limited himself to stating that he will study the sentence to evaluate a possible resource.
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