The judge in the Stratvs case, Silvia Muñoz, has ordered the opening of oral proceedings in the Stratvs case, which will bring 17 individuals and one legal entity, the company BTL Lanzarote, to the stand. The order issued this Friday, June 12, is the last step for the holding of the trial, which should be carried out by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas.
However, the fact that one of the defendants, Gladys Acuña, is going to take office as a regional parliamentarian on June 23, by virtue of the seat she obtained in the last elections, means that the entire case will become the responsibility of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
In any case, since the investigation is already finished, this will only affect the holding of the trial, which will be in the TSJC and not in the Court. What it may mean is a delay and also a possible change in the prosecutor. In principle, the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has its own assigned prosecutors, which would mean that the prosecutor who has been handling this case since its inception, Ignacio Stampa, could not participate in the trial. However, the Prosecutor's Office could enable him to represent the Public Prosecutor's Office in the oral hearing, given that otherwise another person would have to catch up on a case of special complexity and with a total of 18 defendants.
20 days to present defense briefs
In her order, the judge gives the defendants 20 days to present their defense briefs. That is the last step that will be taken in the Court of First Instance Number 5, where Silvia Muñoz's work has concluded. Once these writings are received, an official letter should be issued transferring the case to the Provincial Court, so that it assumes jurisdiction over the proceedings and sets a date for the trial.
However, in this case it will depend on when Gladys Acuña's immunity becomes official. In addition to the fact that she must still take office as a deputy, a procedure is then initiated that includes the official notification from Parliament to the Court. Next, the Prosecutor's Office must issue a report determining who has jurisdiction over the case in this new scenario. From that moment on, it will be Judge Silvia Muñoz or the Provincial Court (depending on whether the case has already been transferred), who must recuse herself in favor of the TSJC.
Agonane's accusation is left out
Both the Prosecutor's Office and the popular accusation represented by the Transparency Urbanística association and the private accusation of the Negrín family, appearing as an injured party, had already presented their accusatory briefs, prior to the issuance of this order to open oral proceedings. However, the one who has not done so is the ecological and cultural association Agonane, which formally appeared in the proceedings last April.
At that time, the investigation had already concluded and even the first accusatory briefs had already been presented. When accepting their appearance, the judge gave this group a period of 20 days to present the accusatory brief (the same period that the rest of the parties had). However, that period came to an end without them having presented their brief, so they will no longer be able to do so.
Now, they could withdraw from the case, as is apparently their intention, or attend the trial, but not request penalties for the accused.