PSP Officer Bruno Pinto Returns to Duty Following Conviction for Death of Odair Moniz
Odair Moniz's family has appealed the suspended sentence and is demanding at least five years in prison. Officer Bruno Pinto returned to work in Setúbal on 10 August.
Family appeals suspended sentence and demands prison time for PSP officer
Google News PT — Crime (pt) reports that the family of Odair Moniz has appealed the sentence that convicted PSP officer Bruno Pinto to three years and six months with a suspended sentence, joining the appeal already filed by the Public Prosecution Service. The family's defence invokes an "irreconcilable contradiction" in the court's decision, which established as proven facts that, according to the appeal, "preclude the necessity, suitability and proportionality of resorting to a firearm against a person" and yet still concluded that legitimate self-defence with excess existed — a conclusion that the defence considers "manifestly illogical".
The appeal requests a prison sentence of no less than five years and an equal period of suspension from PSP duties. The defence argues that the sentence imposed "is manifestly insufficient, as it fails to reflect the objective seriousness of the homicide, the degree of culpability, the use of a service firearm, the professional status of the defendant and the serious demands of general deterrence".
Meanwhile, the PSP confirmed to news agency Lusa that Bruno Pinto returned to duty on 10 August, at the Setúbal District Command, where he performs administrative functions. The institution justified his return by the revocation, by the court's final decision, of the suspension of duties measure that had been in force.
Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old chef residing in Bairro do Zambujal, was killed on 21 October 2024 with two shots fired at close range — less than one metre away — by officer Bruno Pinto in the Cova da Moura neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Lisbon. The stop occurred following a traffic violation, after Odair Moniz resisted arrest.
In initial reports, the officer and the PSP leadership invoked the threat of a knife wielded by the victim. However, eyewitness testimony and images captured at the scene contradicted this account. Subsequent analyses determined that the knife found beside Odair Moniz's body bore no trace of having been in his possession, and the court established as proven that the victim did not wield any blade or knife against the defendant.
Source: Google News PT — Crime (pt)