Overview
- The Civil and Criminal Chamber of the TSJCV partially upheld the appeal, downgrading the conviction from murder to homicide and reducing the prison sentence from 23 to 15 years.
- The court rejected alevosía after noting the jury simultaneously described a surprise attack and a frontal struggle, with the victim’s active resistance supported by the accused’s DNA under her fingernails.
- The panel emphasized that defenselessness cannot be presumed and found no qualitative shift that would support treachery in what was described as a single, continuous assault.
- The aggravating factor of killing to avoid discovery was discarded because it lacked a specific jury question and rested only on a relative’s opinion and post-offense conduct, which case law treats as mere self-concealment.
- The jury’s finding that the defendant’s primary intent was robbery weighed against attributing a specific intent to avoid detection, a point highlighted by defense lawyer Juan Antonio Signes García in urging media to correct earlier reports.