Santi Mina and David Goldar testify behind closed doors for the alleged sexual assault

The media trial for alleged sexual assault on Santi Mina and David Goldar began today at the Provincial Court of Almería with the interrogation of the two players, the statement of the victim and three witnesses. And they have done it behind closed doors after the judge, Társila Martínez, has decided it after the request of the private prosecution, arguing the sensitivity of the facts and that the accused are public figures. Of course, the rest of the sessions, scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday, will be in public hearing, as David Goldar’s defense has argued the right to information.

The private prosecution has argued at the beginning of the hearing the “strictest privacy” of its client, emphasizing the “great psychological condition that she still suffers today” and understanding that the fact that the defendants are public figures, “the trial is an appetizing event for the press, but holding it in a public hearing would be detrimental to the victim.” After these words of the lawyer Iván Bolaño, the prosecutor, Miguel Blasco, has stated that he had “nothing to object to”, it being the turn then for the defense of David Goldar, represented by Manuel Ollé, after having changed a couple of weeks ago.

The latter has claimed “the right to a fundamental public trial in a democratic right” and “the guarantee that publicity represents to demonstrate to society and the press the essence of true criminal use”; Even so, Ollé has not objected to the declaration of the victim and that of the two soccer players being behind closed doors, words shared by Santi Mina’s lawyer, Fátima Magdalena Rodríguez, defense of Santi Mina. Thus, after a brief pause, the judge has decided that this first session will be behind closed doors, while in the following ones, there may be both the public and the media.

The Superior Court of Justice (TSJA) already reported on Thursday that it did not rule out “that any session or any specific statement be held behind closed doors,” although it assured that the trial would be a “public hearing.” The Public Prosecutor’s Office also requested that the victim be accompanied in court by officials from the Andalusian Victim Assistance Service (SAVA) and that her appearance could be held by videoconference to “avoid physical confrontation” with the players. Finally, the complainant is making her statement in the same room as the defendants, having entered the Provincial Court of Almería through a back door and declaring with a screen in between.

no declarations

Santi Mina and David Goldar arrived at the Almería Provincial Court in the same vehicle, entering through the main door without making any kind of statement. Who also did not want to speak after a recess in the trial was the lawyer of the Celta footballer. “The only thing he has done is tell the truth,” Fátima Magdalena Rodríguez limited herself to saying before the media’s proposal that the footballer could defend himself publicly. The Celta player faces a request from the Public Ministry for eight years in prison as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of sexual assault under articles 178 and 179 of the Penal Code. For David Goldar, the Public Ministry has requested dismissal, but not the private prosecution.

The Prosecutor’s Office also asks for a 500-meter restraining order for Mina for ten years and that the measure of supervised freedom be imposed on the footballer for another ten years. For its part, the private prosecution requests nine and a half years in prison for the two players, in addition to the rest of the accessory measures mentioned above.

Today the two players, the victim and three of her friends have testified as witnesses. The second session will be this Wednesday, when five Civil Guard agents will testify as witnesses, as well as three private detectives and three more people as experts. Thursday will be the third and last session in which it will be the turn of another seven experts, continuing with the final reports of the different parties.

Trial five years later

The facts that are prosecuted this week date back to the early hours of June 16, 2017, when Santi Mina, who was still a Valencia player, and David Goldar, who signed for Pontevedra that month, were on vacation in the Almeria town from Mojacar. The defendant denounced that being with Goldar in a caravan near a nightclub, Mina broke into the vehicle “completely naked” and “with a libidinous spirit and to satisfy her sexual appetite, despite the victim’s manifest will to the contrary,” according to the Prosecutor’s Office. After being reported to the Civil Guard, Mina was released without bail after spending the night in jail (first it was indicated that he had undergone a speedy trial pending a ruling and then the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia denied). Santi Mina’s defense has always opted for silence.