The court allows a psychologist appointed by Dani Alves to examine the victim

The Audience from Barcelona he corrected the investigating judge and gave the go-ahead for the psychologist appointed by the football player’s defense Daniel Alves participates in the investigation of a young woman who denounced him for raping her in a discotheque Sutton Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​30. December.

In the car, progressed Vanguard and to which Efe had access, the third part of the discussion respects the appeal that Alves filed against the decision of the investigating judge to prevent the investigation of the young woman by a psychologist, considering that it is the defendant’s right to appoint an expert to participate in the examination. Alves’ defense request for an expert to participate in the examination of the victim, a common test in rape cases to determine whether the accuser has consequences compatible with sexual assault, was initially accepted by the head of the 15th Judicial Court of Barcelona. However, both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution conducted by the victim filed an appeal against the court decision, and the judge eventually vetoed the fact that the defense expert could be present at the forensic medical examination of the victim, in order to avoid “secondary victimization”.

Alves’ defense, led by lawyers Cristóbal Martello and Arnau Xumetra, appealed the judge’s decision, stating that his right to defense was violated, an appeal which the Court of Barcelona has now assessed, realizing that the law recognizes the right of all defendants to “appoint an expert at their own expense”. In this sense, the Court of Barcelona reasons that, although the report issued by the court doctor “enjoys the presumption of truthfulness, objectivity and impartiality”, his opinions “do not have a privileged nature and his conclusions are subject to challenge and openly refuted by expertise”.

According to the court’s assessment, the presence of an expert at the expert examination is “reconcilable” with the status of the victim, as it would enable the identification of the complainant to be carried out “jointly, in one action, by the involved professionals”. . A circumstance that, according to the court, would enable “a reduction of secondary victimization resulting from the repetition of the story” by the complainant, as well as the adoption of measures that guarantee that expert testimony is conducted “in optimal conditions, in an environment that encourages research, with as much privacy as possible.” The young woman is awaiting an examination by the Psychology Unit of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia (IMELEC), an examination in which a psychologist appointed by the defense can now participate.

At the same time, the investigating judge must now decide whether to release the footballer on temporary release, as requested by the defense on January 20 after the defendant appeared before the judge at his own request to present his fourth version of what happened at the Sutton nightclub on the last on the night of December 30.

The judge’s decision can be appealed to the court in Barcelona, ​​which rejected the temporary release of the former Barca player last February, arguing that there was a risk of flight and that the evidence incriminating him for rape is solid.