Duarte Lima refuses to make statements on first day of murder trial in Brazil
Former PSD deputy Duarte Lima invoked his lawyer's advice to refrain from testifying at Sintra Court. The court was also unable to locate witness Rosemary Espinola.
Former PSD deputy remains silent as trial begins in Sintra
Former PSD deputy Duarte Lima, accused of the homicide of Rosalina Ribeiro in 2009, refused to make statements on the first day of trial this Thursday at Sintra Court. "For now, and on the advice of my lawyer, I am not making statements," the defendant said following the opening statement of his defence. CNN Portugal reports the start of a process marked by delays and difficulties in locating witnesses in Brazil.
The court also intended to hear Rosemary Espinola, a close friend of Rosalina Ribeiro and one of the first people to report the victim's disappearance, but she could not be located. "For now, we have no information that she is alive," declared judge Carlos Camacho, who presides over the panel. The magistrate added that there have been "some difficulties, both through international cooperation channels and direct contact with Brazilian authorities" in locating various witnesses, and that "it remains to be seen what capacity she has, if she is alive, to give testimony".
At the start of the session, Duarte Lima's lawyer, João Barroso Neto, requested that clinical documentation of the former deputy be added to the case file intended to "prove the defendant's state of health". Barroso Neto described the case as "pure fiction" and argued that "this is a case that comes to trial already judged — not by the court, but by public opinion", further contending that "it is not up to the defendant to prove anything, it is not up to him to prove that he was not in a certain place at a certain time".
The session lasted approximately one and a half hours. The next session is scheduled for 18 November at 13:45.
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The case
The case dates back to December 2009, when Rosalina Ribeiro, widow of millionaire Tomé Feteira, was shot dead with two bullets in Maricá, near Rio de Janeiro. Her body was found the next day in Saquarema, on a dirt road approximately 100 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Public Prosecutor, the motive for the crime was a transfer of €5.2 million made by Rosalina Ribeiro to a Duarte Lima account. The prosecution contends that the defendant wanted the widow to sign a document confirming that the money was in fact his — and that, faced with her refusal, he killed her.
Duarte Lima has maintained over recent years that the more than five million euros corresponded to fees owed for services rendered to Rosalina Ribeiro. This version was contradicted by Tomé Feteira's daughter, who claimed that the money was diverted from accounts belonging to her father and even filed a complaint against Lima for breach of trust — a crime for which he was acquitted in 2019.
The trial was originally scheduled to begin in November 2022, but was postponed several times, first due to failure to notify witnesses residing in Brazil and later due to the absence of court recordings.
Source: CNN Portugal