The prosecutor’s office urged a reduction in the sentences handed to two teenagers convicted of raping a girl in Palma, arguing that the new national standard known as the ‘only yes is yes’ law benefits the defendants. The youths were remanded by the Magistrates’ Court and sentenced to 13.5 years each for ongoing rape offenses, with a mechanism to avoid undue delays in the process. Before the Balearic Islands Supreme Court of Justice (TSJB) reviews the case, the prosecutor has proposed setting the penalties at 11 years under the new legislation. The defense teams, meanwhile, are seeking acquittal or, failing that, pronounced reductions based on the updated legal framework. The civil and criminal offices plan to revisit these appeals in the coming weeks. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]
The second portion of the proceedings concerns the two defendants, identified only as being “with at least one other person.” At dawn on June 18, 2016, the two left a nightclub on Paseo Marítimo and offered to drive home the two girls they had just met. Instead, they drove toward a rural area in the Genoa region and, after pulling over, three men confronted one of the women and forced her to sit in the driver’s seat where she was undressed. The assault then continued as the other men participated. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]
According to the sentencing records, the victim did not actively resist because she was overwhelmed by fear and warned that the assailants had no intention of letting her go toward her home from the route they chose. One of the other women had already lost consciousness from alcohol when she entered the vehicle. The decision notes that she remained passive to protect her friend and avoid worsening what was unfolding, fearing that any objection could provoke a more dangerous outcome. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]
The defendants’ lawyers challenged the sentence issued at the end of 2021 at the TSJB, arguing that the victim’s account alone was insufficient to convict and asking for acquittal. They also argued that any delays should be mitigated under the revised framework and that the penalties should be reduced in line with the new “only yes is yes” law. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]
In a letter obtained by Diario de Mallorca and released by Prensa Ibérica, the prosecutor rejected all defense arguments except for a reduction grounded in the new legislation. The prosecutor contends that, under the post-reform criminal offenses, the events would qualify as persistent sexual assault with vaginal access, with the standard provision for delay being aggravated by the joint actions of multiple perpetrators. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]
According to the prosecutor, the penalty range is now set between 11 and 13 years in prison. The public ministry maintains that the State Court correctly opted to apply the minimum sentence in force at the time. Following these formal submissions, the prosecution insists that the 11-year term be renewed for each defendant. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]
TSJB is scheduled to conduct a hearing in early June to allow the parties to present their final arguments and to review the appeals. [Citation: Diario de Mallorca]