The Supreme Court keeps the case open against PP senator José Manuel Baltar

The Supreme Court has decided to keep open the case initiated against the PP senator and former president of the Ourense Provincial Council José Manuel Baltar Blanco for an alleged crime against road safety, for allegedly driving at 215 kilometers per hour in an official car. The judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court Ana Ferrer has rejected the annulment of the criminal procedure that Baltar had requested, who alleged that he had already been fined administratively for the same events with 600 euros (which he paid voluntarily) and the loss of 6 points of the driving license.

The case against Baltar was opened on April 23, 2023, when the Civil Guard surprised him driving at 215 kilometers per hour behind the wheel of an official car on the A-52, near the municipality of Asturianos, in the province of Zamora. , a section in which the speed is limited to 120 kilometers per hour. The PP senator testified in the Supreme Court on December 19 and denied that he was driving at that speed on the day of the events. Already then he opposed the investigation, arguing that for these events he had paid a fine and that, therefore, the proceedings should be archived.

The investigating magistrate explains in the dismissal that the doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) recognizes that States have the power to legitimately opt for complementary legal responses “to certain socially unacceptable behaviors.” . In the resolution issued, non-compliance with traffic regulations, non-payment of taxes or tax evasion are cited as examples. All of this “through different procedures that form a coherent set to deal with the different aspects of the social problem in question, provided that these combined legal responses do not represent an excessive burden for the affected person.”

The instructor, supported by the Prosecutor's Office, adds that such procedures must be applied following the principle of proportionality. She also cites the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court itself, which allows deducting from the eventual criminal sanction imposed that already executed in the previous administrative procedure. In any case, the judge points out that it will be the sentencing court, in the event that the prosecution phase is reached, who will rule on the effects of the previous administrative sanction.

In the same order, the instructor agrees to the defense's request to ask the General Directorate of the Civil Guard to report on the specificities of certain radar models and to clarify where the radar that detected the vehicle driven by Baltar was located.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the judge rejects, however, the early practice of the testimonial evidence proposed by the defense, considering it unnecessary at this time for the purposes of the investigation, given the data recorded in the report. Finally, the order maintains unresolved the request made by the public ministry for the investigator to submit a request to the Senate in order to proceed criminally against the senator.

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