Barcelona (EFE) Barcelona, on December 30.
In an order, advanced by “La Vanguardia” and to which Efe has had access, the third section of the Court upholds the appeal that Dani Alves filed against the decision of the investigating judge to prevent the exploration of the young woman by a psychologist on behalf of , considering that it is a right of the defendant to appoint an expert to intervene in the examination.
The request by Alves’ defense that an expert witness participate in the examination of the victim, a common test in rape cases to determine if the complainant suffers sequelae compatible with a sexual assault, was initially admitted by the head of the court of instruction number 15 of Barcelona.
However, both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution exercised by the victim filed an appeal against the judicial decision and the judge ended up vetoing that a defense expert could be present at the forensic medical examination of the victim, in order to avoid a “secondary victimization”.
Alves’ defense, exercised by lawyers Cristóbal Martell and Arnau Xumetra, in turn appealed the judge’s decision alleging that their right to defense was being violated, an appeal that the Barcelona Court has now upheld, understanding that the law recognizes the right of all defendants to “appoint an expert at their expense”.
In this sense, the Court of Barcelona reasons that, although the report issued by the forensic doctor “enjoys a presumption of truthfulness, objectivity and impartiality”, his opinions “do not have a privileged nature and his conclusions are susceptible to being challenged and openly contradicted through an expert witness”.
In the opinion of the court, the presence of the expert witness in the examination is “reconcilable” with the statute of the victim, since it would allow the recognition of the complainant to be carried out “jointly, in a single act, by the professionals involved.” .
A circumstance that, in the opinion of the court, would allow “reducing the secondary victimization derived from a reiteration of the story” by the complainant, as well as adopting measures that guarantee that the expert evidence is carried out “in optimal conditions, in an environment that encourage exploration, with as much privacy as possible.”
The young woman, pending to be explored
The young woman is awaiting examination by the Psychology Unit of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia (IMELEC), an examination in which the psychologist designated by the defense can now participate.
In parallel, the investigating judge must now decide whether to release the footballer provisionally, as requested by the defense on January 20 after the defendant appeared, at his own request, before the magistrate to give his fourth version of what happened in the Sutton nightclub on the night of December 30 last.
The magistrate’s decision may in turn be appealed before the Barcelona Court, which last February ruled out provisional release of the former Barça player, arguing that there is a risk of flight and that the evidence that incriminates him in the violation is solid. .
The entry The Court of Barcelona allows a psychologist appointed by Dani Alves to examine the complainant was first published in EFE Noticias.