An express investigation. In just over two months, Dani Alves has gone from being the most successful player in international football, along with Leo Messi, to becoming the most famous inmate at the Brians 2 prison, near Barcelona. In these weeks, the Brazilian has seen how the evidence and evidence narrowed the circle in the judicial process opened against him at the end of 2021 for an alleged sexual assault on a 23-year-old woman in the bathroom of a private room at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. Now, that investigation is about to conclude, so the trial at the Barcelona Court will be held this year.
Precisely, one of the reasons for the court to keep him in pretrial detention last week, in addition to the risk of flight, is that the trial will not be long in coming. “To all the arguments we must add that the investigation is practically finished when a month has passed since the arrest of Mr. Alves”, indicated the Court of Barcelona, ????remembering that after his arrest “numerous statements were made”, such as that of the victim, the player and the friend who accompanied him. A few weeks later, the nightclub staff, the victim’s friends and people close to them who knew of the alleged attack the same night testified before the court.
In addition, the court details that “even the DNA analyzes that normally delay proceedings for crimes of sexual violence have been carried out” in which it was confirmed that the traces and traces of semen found on the victim, her clothes and on the ground of the bathroom of the discotheque in which the sexual relation took place corresponded to the Brazilian. In this sense, the activation of the protocol against cases of rape by the entertainment venue was essential, as well as the rapid action of the Mossos d’Esquadra, sealing the sink to recover DNA remains and its transfer to the Clínic hospital to be examined.
“Therefore, it is foreseeable -and desirable- that in a short period of time the investigation is completed and the summary concluded, so that provisional detention can be maintained for a reasonable period of time, without reaching the legally established maximums,” said the Court. of Barcelona that confirmed the provisional prison for Alves for risk of flight. Judicial sources point out that psychological reports of the victim have yet to be provided to the procedure, to determine how the alleged rape affected her and if she suffers sequelae, as well as any police report on the external security cameras in the area that captured the victim and her friends leaving the premises visibly affected.
For their part, Alves’ entourage does not rule out requesting some type of expert evidence to support the main defense thesis: that the relations were consented. To do this, they want to emphasize that the cameras in the private room show Alves walking towards the door behind which the sink was and two minutes later the victim came. In addition, they emphasize that the atmosphere was relaxed and not of alleged harassment, as the accusations maintain.
Another option that the defense is considering is a new statement by Alves before the court, taking into account that the first one was quite damaging for him due to the triple change of version, since he went from saying that he did not know the victim to that they had consensual relations, specifically a fellatio. Thus, the player has not verbalized that there was penetration, so his lawyers could request a new court appearance in which he would present his version of what happened at dawn on December 30 at Sutton.
“Daniel Alves Da Silva continues to be as innocent as he was before the ruling was handed down. His will to leave Spain and avoid the process was and is non-existent,” Alves’ lawyers said after learning that the Barcelona Court would keep him in provisional prison and they added that “the resolution is asymmetrical, because it uses the statements of charges offered by the police report as evidence and, on the other hand, the defense elements offered by the defense differ for the oral trial.”
What is clear is that the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution continue with the proceedings against Alves. The investigation is expected to conclude before the summer, so they could request a high prison sentence in the trial, which should be held at the end of this year, as long as the delay in cases that the Hearing section has pending allows. of Barcelona in which it falls. They have preference in which there is a prisoner, as would be the case.
In his letter for the player to continue provisionally in jail, the Prosecutor’s Office made it clear that he is facing “a crime of sexual assault with penetration of article 179 of the Penal Code that has a penalty between 4 and 12 years in prison.” However, judicial sources point out that the accused’s alleged abuse of superiority will be taken into account when forcing the victim, as she declared first before the police and then in court. For this, the alleged intention of her to deceive her by not telling her that they were going to the bathroom and then the alleged blows that she gave him in the bathroom to force her will be taken into account.
Alves could face a sentence of 8 to 10 years in prison, according to what judicial sources have explained to this medium, taking these aggravating circumstances into account. For the Brazilian environment, the high request for imprisonment would mean more of an exemplary punishment for its media impact than for the application of the Penal Code in this case, although they maintain that the player is innocent of any crime since the relationships are consensual even though they are not He said it at first to protect the victim and avoid a confrontation with his wife, the model Joana Sanz.
After knowing the decision that he will continue to be locked up, Alves spent several days without leaving the cell he shares with another Brazilian in Brians. He now knows that he must prepare for the most important game of his life, away from a soccer stadium and before three judges who will examine him more harshly than a referee. Much more is at stake than a title, such as his freedom and his innocence, although in this case he has it more complicated. Against him is the forcefulness of the evidence that points to the fact that he caused irreparable damage to a woman.
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