HE Supreme Court rose 5 years 11 months 15 days Prison sentence for a Legion sergeant for abuse of power and crimes against the effectiveness of the service death of a legionnaire bullet fired during the exercise Agost shooting range in March 2019.
In a decision reported by Europa Press, the Military Service Office rejected the sergeant’s objection and partially accepted the arguments put forward by the prosecutor’s office and the special prosecutor’s office. We also condemn the captain responsible for the security of the exercise and the lieutenant responsible for the Sergeant platoon.
Specifically, according to the decision, the Supreme Court sentenced the first of them to 1 year in prison for disobedience, and the second to 3 years in prison for disobedience and crimes against the effectiveness of the service.
appealed sentenceThe decision of the 2nd Regional Military Court acquitted the last two officers named and sentenced the sergeant who opened fire to 3 years, 10 months and 26 days in prison for crimes that the Supreme Court confirmed that he committed: one for service (2 years and 8 months) and two for abuse of office. He was sentenced to a total of 14 months.
The penalty for the first offense now increases to 4 years, 9 months and 15 days, while penalties for abuse of office continue. So a total of 5 years and 11 months.
moment of shooting
The proven facts of the sentence show that during the exercise carried out by a company of the Legion in the field of Agost (Alicante), the sergeant was standing and was further behind the members of the platoon, from where he carried him. At least seven shots were fired from the HK G36 rifle in front of and above the positions occupied by members of the left squad of his platoon.
One of the shots fired by the sergeant hit a legionnaire who was kneeling on the ground with his rifle pointed down at the time of firing and after exhausting his ammunition. The bullet in question first hit the butt of his rifle and then his body.
Despite the efforts of his colleagues and medical staff to resuscitate him, he died at around 18.48 as a result of “hypovolemic shock from a gunshot”. He was 21 years old and an only child when he died..
Condemn civil servants
Supreme Court increased the sentence of the sergeant Crime against the effectiveness of the serviceConsidering that what is now established is “more appropriate and proportionate to the serious recklessness of the sergeant’s conduct which he observed during the live-fire combat training exercise”, as the charges demand, Shootings outside fixed targets and over occupied positions by some participants”.
Moreover, he condemns the lieutenant in charge of the platoon for his crime against the effectiveness of the service, since the proven facts show both the excess of the lieutenant’s subordinate, the sergeant, by expanding the execution of the combat exercise with live shooting. It was ordered and arranged by the captain, “while at the same time the apparent leniency of said lieutenant, not terminating the exercise for the simple convenience of his subordinate, the sergeant, and allowing both its prolongation and shooting, creating a situation not sanctioned by legal danger.”
On the other hand, the Supreme Court condemned both the captain and the lieutenant for the crime of complete disobedience because they did not follow the orders of the Civil Guard Judicial Police team, which was at the scene of the events, despite knowing the orders. Although they entered the site the next day to conduct a visual inspection, they did not comply.
The decision also states that the captain ordered a reconstruction of what had happened at the shooting range before the arrival of the Civil Guard, and that his obligation was to respect and prevent regular access.
Likewise Almighty Increases compensation to parents of deceased legionnaires to 250,000 euros –125,000 for each– approves the provisions regarding the direct declaration of civil liability, under which the Plus Ultra Insurance Company must compensate each parent for a total limit of 150,000 euros, instead of the 208,000 established in the example. The amount of EUR 75,000 plus a declaration of secondary civil liability of the State.
The high court also determined the amount of civil liability resulting from the sergeant’s conviction on two counts of abuse of authority at 3,000, instead of the 600 determined by the criminal court.
The judge thinks it was premeditated murder
The decision of the Supreme Court has a special vote of one of the five judges who sign it, namely the president of the Chamber. Jacobo Barja de Quiroga. He considers that the events attributed to the sergeant should be classified as follows: deliberate and careless murderbecause “he knew the concrete danger posed by his action (not the abstract danger posed by the use of a weapon similar to the one he was carrying).”
Likewise, it is surprising that the possibility that the crime was committed negligently by the captain, security guard and officer, who were the managers of the live firefighting training exercise at the time of the incidents, was not brought to the agenda in the vote. and yet it was not on site.
“Besides the position of guarantor that needs to be examined, it is also the deliberate neglect of his duties that he is not in the place where he should be, as this is also evident in the facts that have been proven,” the magistrate said.