The Provincial Court in Palma has upheld the ruling of a lower court that had absolved a driver of causing the death of a pedestrian.
On June 10, 2020, the pedestrian, a British national, was on a crossing on Avenida Argentina when he was hit by the driver's car. The driver tested positive for alcohol, but a criminal court last year acquitted the driver. The fact that he was over the limit did not, in the court's opinion, influence the event.
The driver was accused of having jumped a red light. Witness evidence confirmed that this was not the case. He insisted that the light was green when he got to the crossing and that he did not see the pedestrian walk out. "I suddenly noticed a blow, got out of the car and saw a person on the ground."
The court also highlighted the fact that an Emaya municipal services truck was blocking the vision of the pedestrian, who crossed with the traffic light phase flashing. Two seconds later the impact occurred, when the light was red. The autopsy* found that the pedestrian had consumed alcohol and benzodiazepines. This was said to have impaired his reflexes.
The Prosecutor's Office had called for a sentence of two and a half years and the withdrawal of his driving licence for three and a half years.
* The mother of the Briton has told the Bulletin that there was no autopsy.