The Criminal Court number 1 of Arrecife has acquitted the head of the Local Police of Tías, Francisco Domingo Hernández, who had been accused of a crime of attacking agents of authority and another against road safety. The events, which were judged last May, occurred on the night of January 17, 2008, when Hernández was involved in a traffic accident. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the head of the Local Police was under the influence of alcohol and attacked the agents who intervened.
However, the ruling accepts the arguments of the defense, represented by Francisco Torres Stinga. During the oral hearing, which was held over two days, on May 25 and 31, Francisco Domingo Hernández's lawyer requested acquittal of the crimes he was charged with, considering that the accused had been "victim of hypoglycemia", which left "his faculties diminished" and caused him "a temporary mental alteration".
Likewise, the defense considered that, although the accused had admitted that he had taken "a whiskey", it was not proven that he was intoxicated, since the agents did not perform the breathalyzer test. It was also not recorded that they had made the offer, neither in the complaint filed by the agents in the City Council, nor in the draft report they made and which was not delivered to the Courts.
In addition, through the statements of the different witnesses, it was proven for the defense that the symptoms of hypoglycemia and intoxication could be confused. "Everyone has agreed in pointing out that he was out of his mind, like a madman, both the agents, the owner of the vehicle, and the mayor's brother," the defense stated in the trial.
Francisco Domingo Hernández's lawyer also did not consider it proven that there really was a crime of attack against agents of authority and, if that had been the case, he argued that the accused had "his faculties annulled or seriously affected", and hence "his strange behavior".
Francisco Domingo Hernández himself assured in the trial that he did not remember "anything" of what happened, and that at that time he was taking "very strong medications", which could have influenced "the driving".
The Prosecutor's Office requested four years in prison
The Prosecutor's Office, for its part, requested four years in prison, accepting the testimonies of the local police officers who testified in the trial and who said that Francisco Domingo Hernández smelled of alcohol and presented external symptoms of intoxication. "If he smelled of alcohol it is because he had drunk," the prosecutor said in the oral hearing, adding that if he had not been given the breathalyzer test it had been due to a prohibition by the mayor of Tías".
However, Justice has finally sided with Francisco Domingo Hernández, who has been acquitted of the two crimes he was charged with.
