“We are sure that Martín Marilef wanted to kill Laura B. and that he did not succeed due to the intervention of Javier Henríquez,” said chief prosecutor Santiago Márquez Gauna. “We ask that he be convicted of the crime of attempted femicide,” he concluded.
The private defender Rubén Antiguala pointed out to the jurors that the prosecution had not proven that fact. He asked that the accused not be convicted of that crime. Instead, he said Marilef was responsible for minor injuries aggravated by gender violence.
After six hours of deliberation, the popular jury announced its verdict this Thursday afternoon. “Us, “The jury, by majority, found Martín Gabriel Marilef guilty of the lesser crime included of minor injuries aggravated by the relationship,” informed the president of the jury.
When the verdict was heard in the courtroom, The chief prosecutor covered his face with one hand, upset by the decision, while the private defender nodded. The accused remained motionless.
Theories of the prosecution and defense
In opening statements, The prosecution had announced that it would prove at trial that Marilef had tried to kill her partner in the early morning of February 5, 2023. in a field in Fernández Oro.
Márquez Gauna summarized yesterday in his argument before the jury the evidence that had been presented in the trial, which began on Tuesday. He mentioned the witnesses that for the prosecution were key to proving that the accused asphyxiated the young woman with the intention of killing her. He did not succeed, because Henríquez, a friend of the accused, intervened.
The incident happened after the victim left a birthday party for a friend of Marilef. During the party, the accused had hit her during an argument. Therefore, the young woman decided to leave. The accused went out after the woman and in the open field attacked her until the victim fainted.
The defender told the jury that the accused was a young man who worked in a bakery, who lifted up to three bags of flour. With that strength, he observed, if he wanted to commit murder he would have executed him. She emphasized that the prosecution did not prove that Marilef intended to kill her.
Antiguala recognized that his assistant was responsible for an act of gender violence, but maintained that he was not a murderer.
The accused’s version
The accused explained that he was drunk that morning, that he woke up hours later in the open field and that he did not know how he got home due to his drunken state.
He admitted to using violence against the victim out of jealousy. “I apologize if I caused harm,” he said. “I take responsibility for the fact that there was gender violence, but I am not a potential murderer as they are accusing me”he said before the twelve titular jurors received instructions from Judge María Florencia Caruso, and then began deliberating behind closed doors.
The juries had the possibility of finding him guilty as the author of the attempted femicide, or not convicting him. The third option was to declare him guilty of the lesser crime, that is, minor injuries aggravated by the relationship. Since there was no agreement, they opted for the third option by majority. There, the participation of the popular juries ended.
The next stage will be the caesura trial with Judge Caruso. Although the sentence that will be imposed on the accused will be conditional execution, the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced.
That’s why, The defender requested the release of Marilef, who has been detained under preventive detention since February of last year. As soon as he establishes an address, he will regain his freedom.