The German citizen accused of having killed a man after throwing him from the terrace of the Costa Teguise shopping center in 2023 has insisted before the Jury of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas that he had no intention of ending his life and that he only tried to defend himself from the two people who assaulted him that day.
In his right to the last word, Tobias C.K. has stated that "he is very sorry that the victim's parents are suffering so greatly" for the death of their son, the British T.C.J., since for them he is "guilty and a murderer".
"And it is possible that they will not change their minds," but "you, as members of the Jury," have seen the video that shows the images of what happened "and can objectively see what happened," he added.
The defendant addressed the Jury after the prosecutor maintained her initial request for 13 years in prison for a crime of homicide, considering that it has been proven that he threw the victim over the terrace railing on the morning of May 28 and knew the fatal consequences of his action, and the prosecution brought by the deceased's family requested the maximum sentence, 15 years in prison.
The defense lawyer has requested his acquittal or that, in any case, the facts be considered as reckless homicide, with the mitigating circumstances of self-defense and undue delays.
He has requested that the compensation claimed by the family of 120,000 euros not be accepted, understanding that it is an excessive amount and asks that if he is sanctioned, it be with a "proportional" amount.
The prosecutor has stated that the crime of homicide has been proven
The prosecutor has stressed that the crime of homicide with eventual intent imputed to the defendant has been proven, who had "full faculties" and could have left the shopping center, but did not want to.
Witnesses say that the accused approached the victim, who was with his girlfriend and a friend, to "bother" them and they told him to leave because "they knew he was a violent person" and, despite this, he returned up to two times and the second time with a champagne bottle with which he intimidated them.
The defendant's attitude was "provocative", "it was not enough for him to attack and hit" the victim with the bottle, as he then threw him over the railing, which has been proven by the statements of the witnesses and the civil guard, by the expert evidence and the video images provided.
"Everyone concludes that they see how the accused grabs C. and throws him over the railing," it was indicated.
The private prosecution has elaborated that the defendant could have avoided the tragedy and that the death of T.C.J. was not due to "bad luck" and has stressed that throughout these days it has tried to demonstrate that the accused is a violent person.
A point that Tobias C.K. has denied, who has said he dedicates himself to music and real estate businesses and that precisely that day he went for champagne to the shopping center to celebrate an operation that had gone well for him, because he had run out of alcohol, and his life since then has become a "nightmare".
The defense lawyer, among other issues, has emphasized that his client was attacked by two people he did not know and that the bottle he was carrying did not cause any injury to the deceased; "it is not even mentioned in the indictment".
According to the lawyer, Tobias C.K. that day was happy and "ran into two highly dangerous attack dogs" and that "they found the opportunity to relieve themselves by hitting him". His version has always been the same.
The defense expert pointed out to the court that "Tobias was cornered from the front and from behind," the lawyer added, as well as that the "brawl moved to a fateful area".
And in his statement he has also denied that his client wanted to flee the scene, as he left it momentarily but returned and surrendered.
The Jury will begin to deliberate on Wednesday afternoon, after the president of the court, magistrate María Eugenia Cabello, hands them the object of the verdict.
