The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has dismissed the appeals filed by two residents of Tenerife sentenced to eleven years in prison and has confirmed the sentence of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife which in September of last year declared them authors of a crime of attempted murder, after a violent aggression occurred in Arona (Santa Cruz de Tenerife).
The Chamber confirms a sentence of eleven years in prison for each one, in addition to absolute disqualification, the prohibitions of approach and communication with the victim, subsequent supervised release, and the compensation set in favor of the injured parties.
The conflict arises from an occupied dwelling in the Arona town of Chayofa: the accused wanted the victim to abandon it and, according to the sentence, had already gone days before to pressure him to leave. The resolution itself states that the affected party responded something like “you again here?, I thought everything had been settled,” which fits with a previous tension over that property.
The ruling indicates that the accused, according to the Civil Guard, were acting in relation to the management of that type of housing and their “violent occupation and disoccupation”, and that the injured party was occupying the house and refused to leave it.
It is also mentioned that one of the witnesses explained that the victim lived in one of those homes paying 300 euros a month, and that the accused would have gone to recover or control the property by force.
According to the proven facts, both defendants acted in common agreement, and on the evening of February 14, 2023, they attacked the victim by surprise when she was leaving an occupied dwelling, hitting her on the head with a blunt object and continuing the aggression when she was already on the ground and defenseless. The sentence describes injuries of extreme severity, with vital risk, several surgical interventions and relevant physical and psychological sequelae.
The ruling also points out that the accused also hit the injured man's daughter, when she, witness to the events, tried to make them stop their aggression.
The Chamber rejects the allegations of lack of evidence and violation of the presumption of innocence, considering that there was sufficient testimonial, expert, documentary, and circumstantial evidence to sustain the conviction. It also upholds the legal classification of attempted murder by appreciating homicidal intent and treachery, as it was a surprise, coordinated, and executed attack on a victim with no real possibility of defense.
Likewise, the court deems the imposed penalty proportionate and confirms the civil liability, which includes compensation of 250,000 euros for the main victim, 1,000 euros for the other injured party and compensation for the sequelae that are determined in execution of judgment.
The resolution adds the deduction of testimony in case any of the witnesses had incurred in false testimony.