HE try for Theft of 45 bottles of fine wine He was seen convicted at the Atrio de Cáceres restaurant After the expert statements and the conclusions of the parties, in which Prosecutor Carmen Barquilla assured that the defendants Constantin Dumitru and Priscila Lara Guevara had “multiple indications” proving that they were the perpetrators of this October 2021 robbery.
Before Judge Joaquín González Casso closed the session, Constantin Dumitru took the floor to defend his and his partner’s innocence. The defendants remembered these on their phones No photos or conversations suggesting the events were found. He questioned the expert evidence and criticized the lack of security cameras inside such an important winery.
Thus, the third and final day of the hearing at the Cáceres County Court passed with the testimonies of five experts who, on the one hand, confirmed the value of the stolen wines and, on the other, the value of the wines. DNA analysis found in the bathroom of room 107 of the hotel, whose samples match the defendants, According to reports by Pryscila and Constantin, and by agents of the Madrid General Police Station, who analyzed these “cellular remnants” that “consisted” with the profile of an unknown third person.
Regarding facial recognition, The science police also confirmed the analogies between them. Photos carried out when the defendants were arrested and checked with passportsbut not with the images reflected on the security cameras, as it is of poor quality and the results cannot be certain.
About the expert assessing the wines stolen from the restaurant’s cellar declared that the three Michelin-starred expert report was made by the insurer on 28 October 2021, the day after the theft, and concluded with a “meticulous and painstaking” methodology dated 22 February 2022.
He used the advice of professionals, the distribution channels of these top wines and the auction houses he identified to prepare the report. The value of 45 stolen bottles rose to 753 thousand 454.45 eurosAn amount that fits an “objective market value” of wine stolen from the Château D’Yquem and Romanée-Conti wineries, and coincides with the compensation Atrio owners received after reaching a settlement with insurer Real.
Results of the parties
Concerning the conclusions reached, prosecutor Carmen Barquilla continues to seek sentences of four years and six months for both defendants for the crime of forcible robbing a public institution, a crime particularly serious because of the large number of stolen objects and their “historical value”. value” in relation to the 1806 bottle. It also seeks compensation from the insurance company for the appraised value of the wines or the return of the bottles.
Throughout the trial, the prosecutor considered that the sentence was “proportionate and adequate”. It has been proved that the defendants are the perpetrators of the crime of theft, although there are “numerous evidences” that are “not directly evidence that he is the author of the facts”, confirmed by the evidence of witnesses and experts, strengthened among themselves and interconnected with each other. place the accused in room 107 of the Atrio hotel on the night of the events.
DNA, fingerprints, phone comparisons, ownership of the used car, and security records show that the occupants of that room have since been the perpetrators of the robbery. While the woman called the receptionist to ask for food and take her from the reception point, the man took the opportunity to go down to the cellar where he had left at half past one in the morning with a backpack and two bags. According to the prosecutor, who requested that the security cameras be viewed by the court, but this was not possible due to technical problems, they “apparently gained a lot of weight”.
The prosecutor said the investigation was “rigorous about the rights of the accused” and that the tests were carried out with full scrutiny, which also “multiple signs” that undermine the presumption of innocence. “These facts are accredited and there are numerous indications proving that the defendants were the perpetrators of the robbery”it’s finished.
The special prosecution, represented by Reale insurance company lawyer Rafael Mateos, said the expert’s opinion on the value of the bottles was “objective”. For this, Atrio demands the sum of 753,454 euros, which is reimbursed to its owners, and the return of the stolen bottles and a five-year prison sentence.
“Many irregularities”
If the defendant’s defense attorney is Sylvia Córdoba requests dismissal of case due to “numerous irregularities” He requested the acquittal of his clients, since the investigation of the case and the police investigation could not compare the “single piece of evidence” but the evidence that would not lead to a conviction.
Cordoba also wantedthe “immediate” release of the accusedIt’s something the judge has to decide, as both have been in Cáceres prison since last summer.
The lawyer argued in his opinion that the fundamental rights of the defendants were violated and The “disproportionate” demand for the traffic of phone calls around the hotel on the night of the events is something that can also violate the privacy of “thousands of people from Cáceres”.
Moreover, He denounced that the chain of custody of the defendants’ phones had been broken and that the complete breakdown of what they contained did not contribute to the investigation, but rather “altered information” classified for the convenience of investigators.
Concerning the evidence presented by the registries, he stressed that they “cannot be evaluated because they are of poor quality” andNo one is distinguished among them, and moreover, they cannot see each other in court.
He also referred to the “space and weight” impossibility of carrying 45 bottles in two gym bags. and suspicions regarding the magnetic card used to enter the warehouse, as the use of the card in room 106 where some friends of the Atrio owners were staying was also recorded.
In his speech, the lawyer stated that there were no security cameras in the winery and the delay in recording hours “not supported by any technical report”, plus the possibility that the door is open will no longer be a robbery, but theft.
Nor was it proven, in their conclusion, that the defendants had visited the hotel in Cáceres three times before. There is no official statement on this matter and he argued that it is not known how he got there regarding the DNA in the room.
Criticizing the expert report on the value of the bottles, the lawyer said, “My clients are not Bonny and Clyde.” “He’s not a wine connoisseur,” and the document is for contributing to the cause a year after making it. “Doubt must be on the side of the prisoner,” Córdoba concluded, “without evidence, there is no crime.”