This morning the Alicante municipal official was acquitted by a court after a trial over an allegation of embezzlement of public funds. The case concerned 118.80 euros tied to supposed resale of tickets for the elevator at Santa Bárbara Castle. The presiding judge, Julio Úbeda, announced the acquittal by a majority vote after the popular jury found the defendant not guilty of the charges brought by the Prosecutor’s Office and the City Council.
The acquittal decision was delivered with seven votes in favor out of nine jurors after a deliberation that lasted around two hours. The defendant, who held office temporarily at the time of the events and later secured a permanent position with the Alicante City Council, addressed the hearing with the defense provided by lawyer Guillermo Loureiro from Cristina Holgado’s firm.
The jury spokesman stated that the panel did not find sufficient evidence to prove that the lift tickets were resold. They highlighted the defendant’s denial during his court statement and noted that the City Council’s procedure did not appear to be robust enough if the document had not been signed by the defendant.
There is no evidence
The court’s decision also reflected that none of the defendant’s colleagues offered direct testimony about the actions attributed to the officer. The jury concluded there were insufficient indicators to demonstrate the resale of lift entries by the defendant. Some witnesses even suggested that the person involved could have been anyone.
Following the verdict, the president of the jury indicated that the sentence would be delivered as a vote and ultimately declared the defendant not guilty of embezzlement of public funds and improper management, charges previously brought by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Alicante City Council.
The facts, deemed not proven by the jury, date from February and March 2020. The accusations claimed that the official resold access tickets to the lift facilities, totaling 118.80 euros, with 44 tourists reported paying 2.70 euros each to use the castle elevator.