Murder trial delayed yet again

A MURDER trial that took more than seven years to reach court had to be postponed until December.

“I will not allow delaying tactics,” Almeria High Court judge Rafael Garcia Laraña warned as Jose Antonio Sanchez Lazaro announced that he was rejecting his lawyer.

Sanchez Lazaro and seven other members of the Los Culebros clan allegedly believed that Bru was linked to the theft of a ton of hashish.  His tortured body was found in a burnt-out car in Gergal and they are accused of abducting and murdering him.

“After seven years, haven’t you had time to reject your lawyer before this?” asked the visibly-irritated judge.

“No, I haven’t.  I had personal problems,” replied Sanchez Lazaro.  Monica Moya, a well-known criminal lawyer who still represents other clan members, confirmed his claim that they had argued.  

Unless he found another lawyer within three days he would be assigned a legal aid lawyer whom he could not reject “under any circumstance” the judge told him. 

The paths of Los Culebros members and the murdered man’s family crossed briefly in the corridor outside the court room.

“They killed our son but we’re not afraid of them,” Jose Bru told reporters. “We shall go on fighting for justice.”