The Supreme Court studies a request to reduce the sentence for the law of "only yes is yes" in a case of rape in Mallorca

The prosecutor opposes the allegations that the defense added to an appeal already filed in 2020, whose deliberation was set for this week

PALMA, 18 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Supreme Court is studying an appeal in a case of rape in Mallorca in which the defense has presented allegations for the so-called Law of 'only yes is yes', requesting a reduction in sentence.

This is a sentence of 12 years in prison, imposed by the Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands on a 53-year-old man, for a sexual assault on his underage niece in 2014 in Mallorca.

As sources from the process have informed Europa Press, the Court handed down this sentence in 2019, and in 2020 the defense filed an appeal before the Supreme Court based on arguments that, naturally, did not include any mention of the new law since then it did not it was approved. The deliberation and ruling was set for this week.

However, about three weeks ago, the defense lawyer presented new allegations as a reason for the appeal, requesting a reduction due to the regulatory changes introduced by the new Law on Guarantees of Sexual Freedom.

In detail, the defense reasons that the defendant had received the minimum sentence within a range that went from 12 to 15 years in prison, and now the minimum sentence is part of seven years.

The Court notified the parties so that they could rule on these new allegations. The family lawyer and the Prosecutor's Office objected. According to the sources consulted, the prosecutor understands that the sentence imposed is also contained in the criminal type, so it would not be necessary to modify it.

Despite these developments, in a ruling the Supreme Court informed the interested parties that the deliberation date was maintained for this week. Therefore, the resolution could be imminent.

The case on which the Supreme Court must rule began as a result of a complaint from the victim. The Court considered it proven that the defendant picked up her niece, who was 14 years old at the time, and took her to look for snails on a farm. Later they went to the estate of the defendant's parents and there the man showed him a pornographic video and began to masturbate. When the minor wanted to leave her, he stopped her, pushed her on her sofa and holding her, raped her, according to the statement of proven facts of the sentence.

In the trial, the defendant accepted his right not to answer the questions of the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution and only answered his lawyer. He assured that it was the girl who asked him to see her pornographic video and that she also asked him for a back massage. The man maintained that it was the minor who touched his private parts and that before that he left the house. He also said that the family did not believe the girl because she was "very conflicted", "a drug user and with psychological problems".

For his part, the victim explained that the relationship with his uncle was very good and that he loved him "like a father." She said that when she sat on the sofa she saw her uncle download a porn video and then he started masturbating and raped her. After this the man told him: "I'm sorry, this will not happen again." On the ride home she told him that this had to stay between them.

The victim also stated that when they filed the complaint they made a deal with her uncle and she had to say that she had been consented to in exchange for him paying for psychological treatment. The Chamber gave credibility to her testimony considering her account "sure, firm and nuclearly coherent."

The penalty for sexual assault in the current wording (article 179 of the Penal Code) ranged from six to 12 years in prison, but when individualizing the sentence in the sentence, the Court started from a sentence of 12 to 15 years for prevalidation (applying article 180.1.4), taking into account the relationship of superiority of the aggressor towards the victim.

It should be remembered that the Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands has ordered the immediate release of two prisoners who were serving a three-year prison sentence for two sexual assaults without penetration, after reviewing two cases affected by the new Law.

This decision was made after receiving a report from the Mallorca Penitentiary Center and having seen the report from the Public Prosecutor's Office. The Court has assessed in both cases that, according to the new legislation, the imposed sentence of two years could not be exceeded, and, therefore, the sentence would be fulfilled in view of the liquidation of the sentence.

After the approval of the Law, the judges face dozens of revisions and it is up to the Supreme Court to unify the doctrine. Several sentences have already been reviewed in the Madrid courts. In three cases, to whose resolutions Europa Press has had access, the sentences were lowered by five years, for one, and by two years, for the other two. In the Provincial Court of La Rioja, 54 sentences have already been reviewed but so far none have been modified.