The popular jury has found Micael D.S.M., also known as El Portugués, guilty of the death of four people in a multiple hit-and-run at a wedding that took place on November 6, 2022, at El Rancho restaurant in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid).
The jury members, who announced the verdict of the trial against El Portugués on Tuesday, concluded that the accused is guilty of causing the death of four wedding guests – two women, one man, and a sixteen-year-old minor – and attempting to kill nine others, who suffered injuries of varying degrees, some of whom have not fully recovered yet.
The prosecutor seeks life imprisonment for the accused in the Torrejón mass hit-and-run case
Additionally, the jury unanimously rejected the defense’s claims that the accused was in a state of necessity or insurmountable fear due to a supposed prior altercation before the hit-and-run, as well as the presence of knives and firearms at the scene, contrary to the defense’s arguments, as indicated by legal sources to EFE.
The perpetrator of the quadruple fatal hit-and-run at a wedding in Torrejón: «My own body accelerated out of fear»
During the trial, which concluded last Friday after three weeks of sessions, the prosecutor requested the maximum penalty for the accused for the multiple hit-and-run, life imprisonment with possibility of parole, similar to four out of the five accusations brought by the victims, while the defense sought acquittal arguing the presence of insurmountable fear and necessity exemptions.
THE DEFENSE PLANS TO APPEAL
Following the announcement of the verdict at the Madrid Court, the prosecutors celebrated it, describing it as «devastating» since all their arguments were unanimously approved: «The verdict dismisses everything the defense had claimed,» highlighted attorneys Juan Manuel Medina and Jaime Sanz de Bremond.
While acknowledging the fairness of the jury’s decision, they emphasized that they could not be entirely happy due to the families’ pain. Nevertheless, they asserted that the verdict clearly establishes what happened at the wedding: that the accused ran over the crowd «assuming he could kill» the people gathered there.
On the other hand, Micael D.S.M.’s lawyer requested the minimum sentence for each murder charge, although she informed EFE that she will appeal the forthcoming sentence.
Police report supports intentional hit-and-run theory that left 4 dead in Torrejón
During the trial, which ended last Friday after three weeks of sessions, the accused maintained his innocence, stating that it was not his intention to kill the wedding guests and that his own body accelerated to try to save his children, who, according to him, had been assaulted by some individuals prior to the incident.