The judge concluded that it had not been established "in a reliable way" that the woman was driving under the influence of alcohol.
The accident occurred at around 05:00 on October 16, 2016 in Calle Maria Antònia Salvà. The defendant was driving her father's Ford Focus, when she left the garage of her home and ran over Sandro Shneiter, who was lying on the road after consuming alcohol. She died as a result of abdominal and thoracic trauma a short time later.
The judge pointed out in the ruling that the exit from the garage was on a slope of 12 degrees and that there was insufficient lighting at the point of impact.
The defendant’s boyfriend told Local Police Officers at the scene that he was driving the car, but later explained that his partner's parents were very strict, so he had assumed responsibility for the accident, but admitted that the defendant was driving.
Officers had given the man a breathalyser test after the accident which was positive and that when the defendant was tested at around 9.05 hours the result was 0.08 and 0.06 mg of alcohol per litre of exhaled air.
The ruling indicates that it is "very possible" that the driver did not see the pedestrian lying on the ground because she was on a ramp which made visibility difficult.
The woman chose not to testify at the trial in Palma in mid-September.
Two Local Police Officers who were at the scene of the accident testified in court that the woman and her boyfriend showed symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol.
One of the officers stated that the accused was hysterical and crying, that they were both very nervous after the accident and the defendant walked, sat, walked again, sat down again and leaned against the wall.
The Police Officer who filed the report had arrived at the scene of the incident an hour after it happened and said he could not confirm that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol.
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Guilty or not the take away here is very alarming. One hour for the police to turn up to a fatal incident? He was breathalysed and was still over the limit yet they didn’t breathalyse the woman and there’s her get out of jail free. He changes his story and bingo! They both walk free without much more fuss. It sounds like a bizarre incident but how the police go about investigating it is woeful.