Supreme Court of Justice reduces sentence from 16 to 14 years for man who killed woman in Porto
The Supreme Court of Justice has reduced the sentence of a man who killed a woman in the Francos neighbourhood in Porto following drug use.
Supreme Court considers cocaine use a relevant factor in sentence for homicide in Porto
The Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) has reduced from 16 to 14 years the prison sentence imposed on a 37-year-old man who killed a 47-year-old woman and abandoned her semi-naked on a street in Porto, according to the ruling dated 14 October, consulted on Monday by news agency Lusa and reported by publico.pt.
The crime occurred in the early hours of 31 January 2025 in the Francos neighbourhood. According to the facts established as proven, the defendant inflicted blows and punches to the victim's body — particularly to the head — and strangled her. The body was found at approximately 07:50, abandoned, semi-naked and covered with a coat.
In January, the Court of São João Novo in Porto had convicted the defendant of homicide to 16 years in prison and ordered him to pay compensation of 150,000 euros to the victim's parents. The defence appealed to the Porto Court of Appeal, which upheld the conviction, and appealed again to the STJ, requesting acquittal and arguing that the expert evidence did not permit establishment of the defendant's responsibility for the crime.
The STJ counsel judges dismissed the acquittal request, but proceeded to an alteration of the factual findings: they established as proven that, moments before the fatal assault, the defendant and victim had been consuming drugs. The court considered that this alteration "has undeniable impact in the determination of the measure of the sentence".
In the ruling, the STJ specified that "although cocaine consumption is not of such a nature as to alter the defendant's will or determine decision-making, as it does not affect the cognitive processing of the central nervous system, it has impact on adrenaline levels, on the intensity of emotions, on levels of nervous energy and on the control of force or self-control of the user".
The defendant has prior convictions for domestic violence and aggravated threats, which were served through fines and suspended prison sentences.
Source: SIC Notícias