Supreme Court upholds nearly 17-year prison sentence for former Ponferrada councillor who threw wife from balcony
Spain's Supreme Court confirms the conviction of Pedro Muñoz, former leader of Coalición por El Bierzo, who left his wife paraplegic in Toreno in May 2020.
Supreme Court confirms conviction of former councillor who threw wife from balcony in Toreno
The Criminal Division of Spain's Supreme Court has upheld the 16 years and 11 months prison sentence imposed on Pedro Muñoz Fernández, former councillor for Ponferrada, for the crimes of domestic abuse and aggravated bodily injury with aggravating factors of kinship and gender-based discrimination, according to elbierzo.eldiario.es. The victim, Raquel Díaz, was left paraplegic after being thrown from a balcony of a property in Toreno on 27 May 2020.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals filed by both the accused and the victim in her capacity as private prosecutor, thereby confirming the ruling of the Court of Justice of Castilla and León, which had previously upheld the sentence from the Provincial Court of León.
The events of 27 May 2020
According to the facts established in the sentence, Raquel Díaz was in a bedroom packing a suitcase to leave the home when Muñoz, "in a threatening tone", told her: "Don't you understand that only dead can you get away from me?" He then struck her on the arms and legs, dragged her to the balcony situated approximately four metres above the ground, and threw her into the void.
The woman fell against a well and the ground, striking herself especially on the head and back, and remained motionless face down. As a result of her injuries, she presents a frontal lobe syndrome with moderate alteration of higher brain functions, paraplegia D6-D10, fractured ribs and breastbone with intercostal neuralgia, as well as ventriculoperitoneal shunt, amongst other injuries.
Breakdown of the sentence
The Provincial Court of León chose to convict Muñoz of the crime of aggravated bodily injury—rather than attempted homicide as claimed by the private prosecutor—on the grounds that, although he intended to kill her, he ultimately called emergency services to save her, a circumstance which, under the Criminal Code, determines this classification.
The sentence upheld by the Supreme Court is structured as follows: 12 years' imprisonment for the crime of aggravated bodily injury; 2 years and 6 months for the crime of habitual domestic abuse; and three additional crimes of domestic abuse totalling two sentences of 9 months and one of 11 months' imprisonment.
To these sentences are added a further 15 months' imprisonment for the crime of insolvency punishable by fraudulent concealment of assets, upheld by the Provincial Court of León last June. The court found it proven that Muñoz attempted to transfer part of his property to two of his children to evade payment of compensation to his wife. Both children were convicted as necessary accomplices to the same sentence as their father.
Multi-million euro compensation
Muñoz must pay Raquel Díaz 1.5 million euros in compensation, the Junta de Castilla y León 97,000 euros, and the health service of Castilla-La Mancha 47,900 euros.
A pattern of systematic violence
The established facts describe that from the beginning of their relationship, Muñoz "displayed violent and intimidating behaviour towards his romantic partner as a manifestation of his control over her, characterised by constant threats, humiliations, physical assaults and psychological abuse, committed with a clear intention to demean her, humiliate her, neutralise her, denigrate her, control her and dominate her through genuine psychological subjugation, isolating her from her family, friends and her social and professional environment".
The sentence also records the victim's psychological state, who presents "symptoms of psychological abuse, submission and dependence, mixed anxious-depressive trauma, signs of emotional instability, cognitive distortion, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, emotional suffering, somatisation, obsession, hypersensitivity, sleep disturbances and social disconnection, psychological maladjustment" and post-traumatic stress, amongst others.
The convict's political background
Muñoz was a former councillor and former provincial deputy, as well as former leader of the Coalición por El Bierzo party, a political formation from which he was expelled in 2020. He entered prison in February 2024, when the Court of Justice of Castilla and León upheld the initial sentence from the Provincial Court.
Source: Google News CU — Crime