«I am very sorry for the death of the person, but at all times I acted defending myself, I acted because a person attacked me for no apparent reason». Thus Rodrigo Lanza argued yesterday his innocence during his right to the last word in the trial that has been held against him at the Provincial Court of Zaragoza for the so-called "crime of braces." Today the jurors will begin their deliberation. These are the three key questions to which you must answer.

1. THE KNIFE

If Víctor Laínez threatened Rodrigo Lanza with a knife or razor, as the defendant says to allege that he acted in self-defense, it is one of the main issues on which the jury must pronounce, consisting of six women and four men, including an alternate On this and if they consider that he acted under the effects of an insurmountable fear, which would exempt him from criminal responsibility, as Lanza also argues, it will depend on the final verdict to be guilty - assassination or homicide - or for absolution.

The nine people who, in addition to the victim and the accused, were at the premises when the events occurred were all repeatedly asked in the trial regarding the existence of the alleged knife. Only one, Pablo M. , who accompanied Lanza that night, said he saw him.

The Turntable bar in Zaragoza has a first exit door before the one that overlooks the street and among them there is a reduced space. As stated by Lanza, he was preparing to leave the premises when, before crossing that first door, he realized that Laínez was following him with a knife in his hand when he was alerted by his friend Pablo M. «" Be careful, that He carries a razor! " And I turn around and I see the man very close to me, supporting me with a knife, ”he said.

Then, according to his testimony, he gave Laínez an instinctive kick "to keep him away," but he did not give up. «The man keeps going towards me, I get inside the two doors of the bar and we stay there. I'm already starting to panic ... », he said.

His companion, Pablo M., recounted this same moment: «When we passed the man, I saw that he was rising and coming behind us. Then we continue walking towards the door. Rodrigo remained holding her. When I turned around, I saw them struggling, Rodrigo and the man. Then I noticed that the man was carrying a knife in his hand and shouted at him to warn Rodrigo.

However, the testimony of Ángel A. , the owner of the bar, who was at the time behind the bar, differs significantly from what they say. He stated that he actually saw Laínez get up from his stool and followed Lanza, but said he did not see any knife or razor in his hands and explained to the court that he could not tell what had happened right next because everyone crossed the door and stayed out of your visual and auditory reach. Asked by the Prosecutor's Office about whether he saw a razor on the ground next to Laínez's body before the police arrived, he said no.

Ángel A., owner of the record player bar, during his statement at the trial.

The five young people who took something at the bottom of the premises, who together with Ángel A. approached Laínez first aid after the aggression, declared in the same sense: They did not see that the victim carried any white weapon nor was it around to your body

The other two people present at the Turntable bar that early morning on December 8, 2017, the two girls who were with Lanza and Pablo M., testified that they did not see any knife but said they heard Pablo's warning. «I moved towards the second door but, seeing that everyone else did not leave, I turned. Then I saw the other door ajar, where the other friend was saying "uncle, stop, that carries a razor" », declared the first. «I pass through a door and I see that they stay behind me, Rodrigo and behind Mr. 'Pablo begins to say "be careful, he has a knife," said the second.

All the agents who intervened - the first ones who arrived at the bar and those who then carried out the eye inspection - replied that a knife or a knife had not appeared on the scene of the events.

Defense attorney Endika Zulueta insistently asked the agents if they searched for a knife during the search. «Did you ask the owner of the premises if he had any knife to cut lemons?», «Did they frisk the people who were there?», «Did they check the drawers?», «Did they inspect the kitchens?» ...

He tried to give air to the theory that Lanza acted in self-defense leaving the door open, without mentioning it expressly, that a black hand could have taken the white weapon. Following this line also, he placed a person next to Laínez, when he was still injured at the premises, a friend who, alerted to the events, would have arrived at the place as soon as the events occurred. The owner of the premises recognized the existence of this friend but said he did not cross the entrance door of the bar.

2. THE DEADLY HIT

It was clear during the trial that Rodrigo Lanza hit Víctor Laínez and that he fell to the ground. But among the questions to which the jury must answer is whether the head injury that caused Laínez the death occurred as a result of the blow that Lanza dealt or the impact on the ground when falling, as the defense has sustained.

The crucial testimony of forensics came last Wednesday behind closed doors at the request of the defense lawyer, who alleged the display of autopsy images during this expert testimony.

According to what he transmitted to the media at the end of the session, the lawyer of the Laínez family, Juan Carlos Macarrón , the coroners did not endorse the theory of defense. "They have ruled out that the coup occurred as a result of the fall, for a simple reason that they have repeatedly explained and that is when a person is hit in a lateral fall the first thing they reach [the ground] are the shoulders," said the lawyer . The testimony of the experts would therefore rule out that Lanza could be convicted of reckless manslaughter.

Víctor Laínez, the victim, 55 years old.

In addition to performing the autopsy on the body, forensics examined Lanza a week after the events occurred and wrote a report on the injuries he presented to his hands. The result of this medical examination is important to establish if he could use any object to hit Laínez, which would also aggravate a possible conviction.

"The intensity of the injuries observed in the right hand are not compatible in intensity with the necessary dynamic forces that are required to cause the injuries proven in the deceased," the experts said in their report opting because Lanza had to use a "blunt" object. and elongated ».

The theory of accusations is that the object in question, which has not appeared, would be a carabiner, that is, a hook like those used in mountaineering to hold the ropes.

The coroners of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Aragon (IMLA) were also responsible for determining where Laínez received the blow left by ko. In their report on the autopsy they determined that "in the right tempoparietal region", that is, behind the ear. This would imply that Lanza attacked him for treason, when he was on his back and unable to defend himself, which would add to the crime "alevosía", one of the three assumptions that raise the qualification of a murder homicide.

The owner of the Turntable bar, who claimed to have witnessed the moment when Lanza hit Laínez, staged during the trial how the victim received behind what he described as "blow as a movie." "He couldn't defend himself against anything," he added.

3. THE STRIPS.

The accusations ask for Lanza 25 years in prison to accuse him of a murder for ideological reasons, pointing out as a key element the braces of the flag of Spain that the victim was wearing and that could not be presented as evidence during the judicial process.

The chief inspector of the Police Information Brigade explained in the second session of the trial that the emergency doctors threw them away. "We requested information from 061, they contacted the medical services that attended Mr. Laínez and said yes, that there were suspenders, that they cut them as well as the rest of the clothes for resuscitation and medical tests, but how they were cut and broken, discarded.

Regardless of whether Rodrigo Lanza saw or not that Laínez was wearing the suspenders, his own companions that night declared that what motivated Lanza to talk to the victim was the comment of one of his friends, Pablo M., who He said upon entering the premises "that the person who was at the bar had fascist ideology."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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