BARCELONA, Spain: Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves was set to offer testimony Wednesday earlier than a Barcelona courtroom over the last day of his trial for alleged sexual assault of a younger girl.
Alves is accused of sexually assaulting the lady in a rest room of an upscale Barcelona nightclub early within the morning of Dec. 31, 2022.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
State prosecutors are looking for a 9-12 months jail sentence for Alves if convicted whereas the legal professionals representing his accuser need 12 years.
The 40-12 months-outdated Alves spent the previous two days listening to testimony from the alleged sufferer, witnesses and cops.
Alves was escorted in handcuffs into the small courtroom carrying a protracted-sleeve white sweater, darkish trousers and glasses. His mom was current exterior, as she has been all the trial. His spouse was solely there Tuesday when she testified that he had arrived dwelling “smelling of alcohol” after the alleged assault.
The three-day trial concludes Wednesday. A verdict usually takes weeks to be delivered.
His accuser testified on Monday behind closed doorways on order of the courtroom. State prosecutors requested for the courtroom to take further measures to guard her id after a video circulated on social media final month that allegedly recognized the lady.
In testimony beforehand given to state prosecutors final 12 months, the lady mentioned she met Alves in a VIP space of the Sutton nightclub after midnight the place she had gone with a buddy and a cousin. She mentioned she accompanied Alves into a personal rest room the place he allegedly slapped her, used insulting language and raped her.
Alves mentioned earlier than the trial that the intercourse was consensual.
A buddy and cousin of the alleged sufferer who went dancing along with her that night time instructed the three-choose panel Monday that after she exited the toilet she was distraught and instructed them Alves “hurt her badly” by forcing her to have intercourse with out her consent.
Police officers who attended to the alleged sufferer testified she was tremendously shaken and instructed them she had been sexually assaulted by Alves. The officers mentioned Tuesday she needed to overcome her fears that “nobody would believe her” earlier than she formally accused Alves. Another officer mentioned the lady instructed him “I don’t want money, I want justice.”
Alves’ buddy who was with him that night time mentioned the soccer participant drank wine and whiskey earlier than going to the nightclub. According to his buddy, Alves and the alleged sufferer danced collectively and confirmed “chemistry” earlier than going into the toilet. He mentioned he hadn’t seen something incorrect with the lady afterward.
A forensic psychologist who examined the lady testified Wednesday that she was affected by “post-traumatic” signs, a conclusion that was disputed by an out of doors skilled known as by the protection.
Alves has been in pre-trial jail since being detained on Jan. 20, 2023. His requests for bail have been denied as a result of the courtroom thought of him a flight threat, regardless of his supply handy over his passport and put on a monitoring system. Brazil doesn’t extradite its personal residents when they’re sentenced in different nations.
Alves modified his protection throughout the investigative part whereas in custody.
At first, he denied any sexual contact along with her, solely to later admit to a sexual encounter that he mentioned was consented to by the lady. He mentioned he had been making an attempt to avoid wasting his marriage by not admitting to the sexual encounter initially.
Alves was ordered earlier than the trial to put aside 150,000 euros ($162,000) to pay his alleged sufferer if he’s discovered responsible and ordered to pay damages.
This is the primary excessive-profile intercourse crime trial since Spain overhauled its laws in 2022 to make consent, or the shortage thereof, central to defining a intercourse crime in response to an upswell of protests after a gang-rape case throughout the San Fermin bull-working pageant in Pamplona in 2016. The laws popularly generally known as the “only yes means yes” regulation defines consent as an express expression of an individual’s will, making it clear that silence or passivity don’t equal consent.
Under the regulation, the crime of sexual assault takes in a wide selection of crimes from on-line abuse and groping to rape, every with totally different punishments.
Alves received main titles with elite golf equipment together with Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. He additionally helped Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal at age 38. He performed at his third World Cup, the one main title he’s not received, in 2022. He performed for Barcelona from 2008-16 and briefly rejoined the membership in 2022. He nonetheless has a residence close to the town.
Alves’ contract with Mexican membership Pumas was terminated instantly after his arrest.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
