The Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice has dismissed the appeal filed by a man who was denied the revision of his sentence based on the new penalties of the Only Yes is Yes Law.
The events date back to December 2017, when Vicente (fictitious name), being a user of an Adislan house in Arrecife, sexually assaulted the night shift caregiver.
The sentence includes as proven facts that this man, when he was 24 years old, and "with the aim of satisfying his sexual desires" covered Angela's (fictitious name) mouth with a paper impregnated "with a substance that gave off a strong odor", threw her to the ground, then to the sofa, tried to kiss her and touched her breasts.
After that, he threatened her with a serrated knife and threw her to the ground, pressed the knife against her stomach and neck, lowered her pants and panties, placed himself on top of her and lowered his pants, rubbing his genitals against her and touching her vagina with his hand. This attack left Angela with several injuries.
The defendant's defense filed a first appeal against the final judgment to request the reduction of the sentence, in accordance with the modifications of the Organic Law 10/2022 on Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom. At first, the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas decided not to review his sentence. However, the defendant's representation considered that the sentence imposed should be reviewed and appealed to the TSJC. In this case, according to his arguments, the sentence would be in a range of two to eight years in prison, while in the old law it would be five to ten years in prison.
To deny the reduction of the penalties, the Chamber of the TSJC considered that the prison sentence imposed, of six years, fits within the new law. "The sentence imposed then was not the minimum, it was imposed for six years, therefore it is within the legal framework", the Chamber justifies the dismissal of the appeal.
The appellant assessed that this new law "partially modifies the Penal Code in crimes against sexual indemnity, contemplates as a measure the elimination between aggression and sexual abuse, appreciating that it lacks transitional regime provisions for the purposes of establishing the interpretative criteria to be applied".
According to Spanish law, the principle of retroactivity of the criminal law that is more favorable to the defendant (person who is to be punished) is prioritized. "A more serious penalty than the one applicable at the time the infraction was committed may not be imposed. If, after this infraction, the law provides for a lighter penalty, this must be applied", the sentence to which La Voz has accessed states.
