Constitutional Court does not review protection appeal in high-profile Seville case
The Andi Constitutional Court in Seville opted not to examine the protection request filed by the parents of Marta del Castillo. The request sought the examination of mobile phones belonging to suspects in the case, including the man widely associated with the crime, who was previously acquitted. The court indicated that judicial remedies had not yet been exhausted, which prevented it from ruling on the merits at this stage.
As reported by Diario de Sevilla, the Constitutional Court declined to analyze the phone numbers involved. The focus remained on the terminal linked to Miguel Carcaño, while other devices were not immediately considered. The report prepared by Lazarus Technology was delivered to the 4th Court of Investigation in Seville in connection with the ongoing inquiry.
The exclusion of the objection that Marta’s mobile device would be examined was not contingent on the discovery of new information. Since January 24, 2009, there has been no indication of the presumed whereabouts of Marta del Castillo from the relevant terminal, the date marking when the alleged crime took place.
Legal counsel for Marta’s family, Inmaculada Torres, initially supported reviewing all phones but subsequently appealed to the Constitutional Court, arguing that there had been a change in the Sevilla Investigative Judge No. 4 decision. It was explained that only the terminals associated with Miguel Carcaño and Marta del Castillo could be examined if new evidence emerged.
The Constitutional Court clarified that the protection remedy had not yet exhausted its judicial path. Consequently, the court did not assess the merits of the case or the arguments presented by counsel, including an earlier annulment raised before approaching the warranty court.
In the proceedings, the family contended that the denial to analyze the phones of other individuals involved left them in a vulnerable position. They also asserted that there was no intention to reopen the case for legal advantage; their goal was simply to locate the young woman’s remains.
As a result, the only mobile device that could be subjected to analysis would be Carcaño’s. The Lazarus Technology report, prepared after cloning Marta’s killer’s phone, was handed to the 4th Court of Investigation in Seville this week. The cloning had previously been authorized in April 2021 by the president of the same court, Álvaro Martín, with Carcaño’s consent, to reconstruct movements on the night of the crime and to glean possible clues about the incident. The search for Marta del Castillo’s body has continued in several areas of Seville without success.
If the operation were allowed, authorities could obtain detailed information about Carcaño’s whereabouts on the night of January 24-25, 2009. The objective was to address the parents’ request in a separate room set up specifically to locate the young woman’s body, distinct from earlier testing conducted in 2013 based on signals from repeater antennas.
Recently, Manuel Huerta stated that the mobile investigative work was completed and that he provided live information on Carcaño’s movements. The National Police were consulted to determine the feasibility of continuing with such a geolocation reconstruction and to verify whether this could shed new light on the case.