The Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has dismissed the latest appeal filed by the defense of Raúl Díaz, the alleged murderer of Romina Celeste, in which he requested the nullity of the process and the inadequacy of the procedure. The accused is attributed the alleged crimes of habitual abuse, injuries, murder, desecration of a corpse and simulation of a crime. No appeal is possible against this resolution.
The resolution announced this Wednesday arises after the hearing held in the TSJC during the strike of lawyers. After the dismissal of the appeal, the investigation will continue through the Jury procedure in the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas.
Raúl Díaz, who remained in pre-trial detention in the Tahiche prison until last January, allegedly murdered and dismembered his partner Romina Celeste at the end of 2018. The judicial case against the accused began on January 14, 2019, but the delay in the instruction meant that the accused served the four years stipulated by law without having a date for the trial. So he had to leave prison and remain locatable, awaiting the holding of the trial.
The TSJC has reported that Raúl Díaz continues to be located and has complied "with all" the obligations established by law, that is, by signing every Monday in the court of the municipality in which he resides.
The defense lawyer of the accused Raúl D. filed an appeal against the order of December 1, 2022, issued by the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas. In it, he requested the nullity of the process and the inadequacy of the procedure.
Among the allegations, the lawyer requested the nullity of the proceedings in the case from August 4, 2019, including the order of transformation into a Jury procedure, due to an alleged violation of the fundamental rights of his client. Among them, he pointed out the rights to effective judicial protection, to defense, to a fair trial and to freedom. In addition, he argued that the instruction was "irregular".
The TSJC considered that "no irregularity" was appreciated and that "it is not grounds for nullity" because it has not generated "any defenselessness" in the accused. At the same time, the public and private accusations in the case rejected the arguments put forward by the defense.
Complex instruction
In July 2022, the defense lawyer had also requested the nullity of the proceedings due to the "preclusion of the term." The law establishes six months for the instruction of a case, but when it is declared complex the term is extended to 18 months. The Public Prosecutor's Office had already requested, before the expiration of the six-month period, to declare the instruction as complex, due to the "abundant" amount of documentation and the "complicated" analyses required by the investigation.
After the 18-month extension, the Prosecutor's Office may request a new extension of equal or shorter period.
