This Wednesday the trial against Daniel Sancho at the Koh Samui court after the break for the celebrations of Songkran, the Buddhist New Year. This is the fourth day of the judicial process that the son of Rodolfo Sanchoaccused of killing and dismembering the Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta last August 5. His father left the court happy and smiling: “Everything very good, you’ll know why”, he told the press. And we already know…
This Wednesday three very important witnesses testified: Two policemen who participated in the investigation of the case and collected DNA samples at the crime scene, and a forensic doctor independent whose testimony has extraordinarily favored Daniel. The reason? The expert, who was the one who took the X-ray of Edwin’s skull when his remains arrived at the Koh Panghan hospital, has declared before the judge that the injuries that the Colombian had in the occipital They could be perfectly compatible with a fight. That is, he supports Daniel Sancho’s theory: the surgeon’s death was accidental as a result of a fight between the two (after the surgeon tried to sexually assault him) and not premeditated, as the prosecution claims. And this is the key to Daniel’s future in Thailand: accidental murder is not punishable by the death penalty, premeditated murder is.
In addition to the forensic report, other expert evidence that is part of the police report has been shown, such as the last messages that Daniel and Edwin exchanged. Normal and friendly conversations that do not reflect previous uncomfortable or violent situations.
Very tense first week
The first three sessions, which took place last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, were marked by three anecdotes: the chains that the accused wore on his hands and feet, his ability to question witnesses and the silence decreed by the judge, who did not It allowed those present to report on what was happening behind closed doors. One of them, however, broke the rule this Tuesday and revealed unpublished details.
This is Bea de Vicente, the only independent criminal lawyer accredited in the trial. The expert was able to have a brief conversation with Daniel during one of the breaks and she revealed the Spaniard’s impressions: “I’m very nervous, this is not justice”, Told him. The chef complained that the procedure is carried out in Thai and the work of the translators present in the room is not enough to be able to follow what is happening in detail: “There’s no way, how helpless. This girl doesn’t translate, we’re listening to ‘Thai’ for twenty minutes and she says three words”, he lamented, an assessment that the criminal lawyer shares: “The translation is horrendous.” Daniel is worried about this point and, in fact, asked the judge to change his official translator to his trusted one.
“He is an affable boy, he is a lost boy and I see him abandoned and alone to his fate. We must recognize that there is something of destiny in his future”said of Vicente, who also expressed his surprise at the work of the Thai lawyer defending Daniel: “He is asleep during the trial.” Rodolfo’s son commented to her: “Literally asleep, he is a great lawyer,” Daniel told her. “I defend myself.”
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