Man acquitted of Marbella shooting in 2004

MALAGA Provincial Court has acquitted a Serbian man accused of shooting another at a Marbella shopping centre in 2004. The public prosecutor was asking for 20 years in prison for murder and weapons possession.

The sentence concludes that the accused, who spent three months in prison in 2005, the victim, and another, unidentified man, were at a restaurant at the shopping centre, when an argument broke out, during which the victim punched the accused in the head.

After this, the other man pulled out a gun and shot the victim several times on the restaurant terrace in broad daylight. The accused claims he was dizzy from having been punched and ran away when he heard the shots. He said his car was later found abandoned because he left the keys at the restaurant.

The court considered that the testimony of one of the protected witnesses is not objective as he has unresolved problems with the accused, and also disregarded the statements of two National Police officers, as the accused did not confess to the crime. On the other hand, it has taken into account the testimonies of two other protected witnesses who were close by at the time and who claimed that the accused was punched in the head and did not fire the shots.