The Provincial Court of Las Palmas has overturned a sentence that convicted a man of a minor offense of threats and another of injuries in Arrecife. The procedure was followed in the Court of Instruction Number 3, which was then in charge of Rafael Lis, and a delay in the processing is what has led to the invalidation of the ruling.
The new sentence, issued by the Second Section of the Provincial Court, indicates that the case was paralyzed for more than a year and a half, so the crime has prescribed. Thus, it declares the "extinction of the criminal responsibility" of the accused, who had already been tried and convicted.
It was after that first sentence was handed down that the paralysis occurred. At that moment, in July 2017, the defendant requested that a copy of the hearing recording be given to him to present his appeal. However, it was not until February 26, 2019, just after Lis's forced retirement, that this request was answered, with a provision being issued by the Court to request a copy of that recording from the General Directorate of the Administration of Justice.
"The procedure has been completely paralyzed for more than a year," concludes the Provincial Court, which recalls that "minor offenses prescribe after one year, which means that the minor offense that gives rise to this procedure is prescribed." Thus, in a sentence that is now final, the Chamber invalidates this conviction, which had imposed a fine of 240 euros on the accused.
A sanction for a serious offense and delays in other cases
The magistrate who was in charge of the Court of Instruction Number 3 of Arrecife, Rafael Lis, was already investigated by the General Council of the Judiciary for delays in the processing of cases. In addition, he had to serve a six-month suspension from employment for a very serious offense in the exercise of his position, since he continued to investigate a case in which he had been challenged due to the link he had with the businessman Juan Francisco Rosa, who hired Judge Lis's wife as a lawyer. In addition, he still has another sanctioning file pending for delaying proceedings that had been requested by the defendants in the case of the Tourist Centers, which was archived shortly after he left the Court.
After serving the six-month suspension, Rafael Lis returned to the Court but had to retire shortly after, at the beginning of last year, having exhausted the legal extensions provided to remain in practice. It was then that the new head of the Court processed the request of this man who had been convicted of injuries - in that sentence that has now been annulled - and also when other procedures that had been in the Court for years began to be resolved.
