SANTANDER, 7 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The lawyer for the private accusation of the crime of the Castro Urdiales skull, which is carried out by the victim’s children, the 67-year-old Basque retiree Jesús María Baranda, considers that there is “more than enough” evidence against Carmen Merino as the author of a crime of murder with treachery with the aggravating circumstance of kinship.
This is what the lawyer, Ana Quintana, has said before entering the trial that begins this Monday at the Provincial Court of Cantabria with the statement of the accused, for which she asks for permanent reviewable prison and, in a subsidiary nature, the sentence of 25 years from prison
“We expect a conviction,” Quintana stressed to questions from the media, reiterating that, although the defendant denies the facts, “there is more than enough evidence for a conviction.”
After the popular jury was constituted last Friday, the trial for the ‘Castro skull’ will continue this Monday with the previous questions and the statement of the accused of beheading her partner in Castro Urdiales.
The trial is expected to last for ten more days scheduled over two weeks, until Friday the 18th, when the deliberation and verdict of the jury, which is made up of one man and eight women plus two alternates, will take place. .
The man’s head appeared three years ago inside a box that the suspect, –a native of Seville and who had been living with the victim in the Cantabrian town for several years– had given, months ago, to a friend of hers so that she could keep it.
The trial takes place, in the midst of great expectation, in the Third Section of the Court, where the defendant arrived this morning, escorted but not handcuffed. Initially, a preliminary issue was raised regarding the defense’s request that the jury be isolated during the sessions, which was dismissed.
The defense also demanded that the trial be held behind closed doors, which was opposed by the Prosecutor’s Office and later by the jury, after deliberating.
The jury and the plenary are chaired by the president of the Third Section of the Provincial Court of Cantabria, Judge Agustín Alonso, and it is celebrated more than three years after the discovery, which took place in September 2019.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution consider the accused the author of a crime of murder with treachery (impossibility of defense) and with the aggravating circumstance of kinship.
The prosecutor asks for the woman a sentence of 25 years in prison with absolute disqualification during all that time, while the private prosecution opts for the reviewable permanent prison, and subsidiarily the one requested by the public ministry.
In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office requests that the two children, the brother and the cousin of the beheaded be compensated with 20,000 euros for each one for moral damage, while the prosecution asks for 35,000 euros for each of the children.
On the contrary, the defense maintains that the accused is innocent and demands free acquittal, without any compensation being due.
