The Provincial Court of Almeria has ordered the immediate release of a man convicted of rape after agreeing to reduce the sentence imposed from six to four years in prison by applying the law of ‘only yes is yes’. The Third Section of the Court indicates that the defendant, inmate in the penitentiary centre of Aranjuez IV (Madrid), has served the prison sentences imposed after the «agreed reduction», according to an order consulted by Europa Press.
The convicted man raped a woman in 2008 in the municipality of Viator (Almería) after assaulting her by punching her several times. Before several neighbours came to the victim’s aid, alerted by her screams, he fled, taking a purse containing 150 euros and objects valued at 132.91 euros.
The Provincial Court of Almería sentenced him to six years in prison for the crime of rape by applying the highly qualified mitigating circumstance of undue delay, which was reduced by one degree, although in cassation the Supreme Court eliminated this mitigating circumstance due to the difficulty in determining the authorship of the acts, for which it was necessary to carry out multiple DNA analyses. It also took into account that the man was arrested in Romania and extradited to Spain, which meant that the indictment was not issued until 15 July 2015.
In its order, dated 30 March, the court indicated that, following the legal reform of the ‘yes is yes’ law, the facts for which he was serving a custodial sentence «would fit» in articles 178 and 179 of the Criminal Code, which reduce the minimum limit from six to four years, while maintaining the maximum of 12 years’ imprisonment.
Finally, it concludes that the sentence imposed was motivated by the fact that «it should be set at the minimum limit permitted by law» and that, therefore, «given that this minimum limit has now been reduced, the court is obliged to reduce the sentence imposed, reducing the sentence to the minimum as indicated in the original sentence».