On July 14 around 5.15pm, the driver lost control of his Ford Transit and mounted a pavement. The van hit a pedestrian, who was thrown to the ground and then run over and dragged some thirteen metres. The pedestrian suffered severe head trauma and died some 45 minutes later.
The judge who heard the case considered that the driver's actions had not constituted gross negligence, which was what the Prosecutor's Office had accused him of.
In court, the driver explained that he saw a man on the pavement who then went to cross the road. In order to avoid him, he drove onto the pavement. But rather than continue across the road, the pedestrian walked back onto the pavement. He could then not do anything to avoid him.
He confessed that he had taken cocaine the day before, but argued that he was not influenced by drugs at the time, a point which was recorded in the subsequent Guardia Civil report. He also denied that his phone had been in his hand.
A Guardia Civil officer explained that the accident was due to drowsiness. The driver had not been travelling very fast and the accident had to have been due to a distraction. There was no previous braking or any prior damage.
In the judge's ruling, she maintained that criminal conviction was only possible if there had been gross negligence. But neither the distraction nor the manoeuvre to avoid the pedestrian constituted negligence or classification as serious. She ruled out the positive test for cocaine and considered the testimony of the Guardia Civil to have been decisive.
Before the hearing, the driver's insurance company compensated the relatives of the deceased, who was from Morocco.
6 comments
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Donald JumpDrinking and driving, at least that's what it was called in my day.
Sounds like these judges are corrupted af. They must be regular users themselves.
Peter PerfectWhat is D&D?
There seems a strange view in the courts here. Alcohol or drugs in the systems seems to be ok even if you kill people. I wonder what can make them being guilty in the Mallorcan courts?
Well if I ever get done for D&D I will claim it was the drugs wot did it. Seriously! Another one let off scot free. The Spanish legal system sucks.
Very strange way of going about things in Majorca.Surely anyone with cocaine in their system would not be fit to drive ?