Using the second time in ten months the Provincial Court of Ourense refused to summon Sergas, for one possible subsidiary civil liabilityin the judicial procedure for the murder of a young woman in Velle, in February 2021, and for the girl’s boyfriend was seriously injuredsome facts which are investigated Diego RT facing calls for conviction ranging from 24 years in prison to a permanent, reviewable prison sentence. Considering the private accusations that have a possible civil liability of Sergas, because psychiatric treatment follow-up was not controlled of the alleged murderer, who has been off medication for months before attacking his neighbors with a knife.
The Provincial Court and the investigating court maintained the same standard and considered that the inclusion of Sergas in the procedure was inappropriate. “It is not possible to obtain a violation of a regulatory standard like health. nor causal relationship between prescribed health treatment (in the context of a possible prior negligent offense) and the double intentional act perpetrated,” said the court in a decision from this past October.
The decision rejected the appeal of private accusations, with the same expression already used by the court in an order from December 2022, where it also approved the decision of the investigative court to exclude Sergas.
With this repeated decision of the Provincial Court, Private accusations are few and far between to repeat their claim that, perhaps, they could raise preliminary questions, at the commencement of the trial, to be held with a jury.
He has been off medication for nine months. Diego RT, an injectable that he must receive once a quarter to control his paranoid schizophrenia psychotic disorder in which delusional symptoms. In the early morning of February 19, 2021, he appeared at the neighbor’s house, in A Batundeira (Velle), he called to open them and attacked with knives -yelling “I’ll kill you!”–, first to his cousin, Álvaro BF, and then to his partner, Ana BR, 22 years old. The young woman was killed and the man survived and raised the alarm to his father, who activated the Police. The injured man identified Diego, the neighbor, as the aggressor.
How the impact of the defendant’s psychiatric illness on his criminal responsibility is measured is key to the outcome of the trial.
The charges suggested a sentence between 24 years in prison – the request of the Prosecutor’s Office – and permanent, supervised prison, which the lawyers of the family of the murdered woman and the survivor sought, considering the aggravating circumstances of cruelty and treachery. This is a measure that, at the moment, has not yet been applied in the province of Ourense. If it is not successful, they will appeal an alternative to a total of 40 years in prison.
