SPAIN NEWS: Killed man over Spanish theme braces then cleared of murder

A MAN who killed another after attacking him from behind because he was wearing braces with a Spanish flag design has been jailed for five years. 

A jury in Zaragoza decided Rodrigo Lanza was guilty of ‘malicious injury’ and ‘reckless homicide’ rather than murder. 

The judge in the case refused to release Lanza, who has been in custody since 2017, immediately as requested by the defence. The earliest he will be out of prison will be June. 

He has also been ordered to pay his victim’s relatives €200,000 compensation and the Aragonese Health Service €5,620 to cover its costs from the incident. 

On December 8, 2017, Rodrigo Lanza, 35, attacked and killed Víctor Laínez, 54, who was wearing Spanish flag braces, which was the motive of the attack. 

First he knocked Lainez to the ground where he struck his head. Then while he lay unconscious Lanza kicked him in the head several times. 

The judge considered the medical evidence showed that the kicks did not cause any suffering and were not fatal – the death blow had already been struck. 

According to his statement at the trial, Lanza had no “intention of killing Laínez.” The head trauma caused by Lanza’s blow to the head led to Laínez’s death four days later.  

According to a statement from the Superior of Justice of Aragon, the magistrate notes that the jury concluded that “Rodrigo’s intention was only to injure Victorino, and that there was no intention to kill him, being therefore the author of the injuries and reckless murder for which he is convicted. “  

The ruling considers that “the accused acted with the sole purpose of vindicating his ideology, regardless of any personal consideration.” 

Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Vox’s private and popular accusations had requested a 12-year sentence because they considered it to be a crime of serious bodily harm, homicide caused by serious negligence, with maliciousness, viciousness and ideological motivation.  

For his part, the defence attorney, Endika Zulueta, had demanded a sentence of one or two years, as well as his release.  

In statements to the newspaper Heraldo de Aragón, Victor’s brother has described as “a nonsense” the jury’s appreciation, which considered that, at the time of beating him, Lanza did not intend to kill his victim, who died in hospital four days later. 

The victim’s brother, Javier Laínez, considers it “a nonsense” that “a group of people who do not know the law” ends up convinced that there was neither treachery nor cruelty nor intention to kill.  

He added that he saw his brother’s face after the brutal attack. “He was shattered, as if he had been hit with a mallet on the head, and the jury says he didn’t want to kill him. 

“What else do you have to do to get convicted of murder,” Laínez said. He insisted that the jury “is not prepared for this, anyone cannot judge a murder” and believed that it is a “scandal” that Lanza “was only sentenced to five years in prison”. 

 He finished: “There’s going to be a murderer out on the street, watch out.” 

The legal representative of Víctor Laínez’s family, Juan Carlos Macarrón, said that the jury’s verdict is a “collection of blunders” and they will appeal to the Superior Court of Justice of Aragón (TSJA).