The defense of the young man convicted of killing former Socialist Councilor of Granada José Miguel Castillo Higueras will appeal the sentence in Granada, who imposed 24 years in prison for two robberies and one murder, after a popular jury found him guilty.
The lawyer for the accused, Sara Rodríguez Riley, told Europe Press that the sentence will be appealed to the Higher Court of Andalusia and remains firm on the charges of reckless homicide and a robbery crime with the mitigation of Arrebato.
The convicted person, Yassine B., was tried at the end of January last year, and both the prosecutor’s office and the private prosecution, carried out by the family of the former councilor, who requested a permanent resurrection, were in agreement. However, the judge believes that the victim being 74 years old does not imply that special vulnerability has been demonstrated due to his age, illness, or disability, which is one of the reasons justifying the maximum punishment in Spain, and sentenced him to 20 years for the murder, to which he adds four more for the two robberies with violence.
The events date back to the morning of January 23, 2022, when José Miguel Castillo Higueras descended to San Antón de Granada, and the accused hit him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground, taking advantage to drop his bag. The shoulder, according to her, is made up of the sentence, which Europa Press had access to.
Around 8:00 a.m., and after the ex-concessionaire continued on the way after the first aggression, the accused entered with him on Father Alcover Street, to Advance and after placing his right arm to take his strength, he gave «a hit in the face (…) of such magnitude that it led him to fall to the ground to hit the back of his head, leaving after a few minutes» and leaving him «unconscious and abandoned at the scene.
The sentence considers proven, as the popular jury has already done, that the cause of the death of the former councilor, who would die hours later in the hospital, was the cranio-cerebral trauma that caused the head to hit the ground and was attacked by his criminal «Suddenly and unexpectedly. Immediately after that second aggression that left him unconscious, the accused sat on him to go through his pockets to take what he had on his mobile phone.
The accused declared himself not guilty during the trial, and his lawyer’s questions ensured that he «never intended to kill» Castillo Higueras and that he will «never» kill a person. According to his account, that night, he was with his girlfriend at a nightclub and headed home when he found the former councilor «showing signs of drunkenness.»
As he said, he approached him to help, and then a couple became involved. They offered the former councilor to call an ambulance, but they were told it was «not necessary,» so they helped him off the ground before the man continued on his way. Along with this, he suggested that the deceased «owed money» without providing further details and specifying that he «did not know him personally.»