Trial Proceedings in Pontevedra Court Update
In the fifth Section of the Provincial Court of Pontevedra, located in Vigo, proceedings resumed yesterday in the trial of two defendants charged with raping an 18-year-old woman they met at a city nightclub. The victim, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time, testified along with several key witnesses. After the two men testified privately last week, the victim, a police officer, a forensic doctor, and the taxi driver who collected the woman from her Torrecedeira apartment testified. The latest session, also conducted behind closed doors, featured expert witnesses from the forensic team, including a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and a social worker.
The professionals’ testimonies were followed by the reading of the conclusions. The Public Prosecutor maintained the request for the maximum penalty provided by the Penal Code in this case: fifteen years of imprisonment for each offender. At the time of the acts, the two men were 33 and 19 years old, respectively, and the sentence also includes ten years of supervised freedom and a ban on any contact with the victim for twenty-five years.
The defense teams, meanwhile, reiterated the demand for full acquittal and, as an alternative, the application of the standard type rather than the aggravated one. They argued that there was no proven vulnerability, nor did the circumstances of the event, or the victim’s state of intoxication, justify an aggravated charge. After yesterday’s session, they anticipated that the tribunal would issue a ruling within about a month.
The assault traces back to December 2021, when the two defendants met the young woman at a nightclub after she had wandered away from her group of friends. The conversation began and, taking advantage of the victim’s impaired condition due to alcohol and the drugs consumed, the men persuaded her to go to a residence to continue the evening.
Inside the residence, one of the men guided the young woman into a private room. After she repeatedly expressed firm refusals, he subjected her to unwanted touching and ultimately rape. Moments later, the other man entered the room and also assaulted her. After the incident, the victim was taken to a taxi stand and boarded a vehicle that brought her back to her home.