Part of the 24-page appeal filed on Monday by lawyer Cristobal Martell against Dani Alves‘ pre-trial detention without bail has been revealed.
The former Barcelona and Sevilla player was arrested on January 20 and has since been in custody without bail, accused of an alleged sexual assault committed at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on December 30.
In his appeal, Alves questions the victim’s account of the Sutton images and claims that the complainant deliberately entered the bathroom after him without the player letting her pass or opening the door.
El Periodico publishes excerpts from the appeal, which the Barcelona newspaper has had access to
“[Alves‘ lawyer] argues that the images captured in the reserved place in ‘severe quarantine or valuation doubt’ some of the statements set out in the prison order issued by the investigating judge, and that offers credibility and plausibility to the statement of the victim,” the statement reads.
According to Alves‘ lawyer, the statements of the complainant “are revealed as inconsistent and inaccurate” which may be due to a “narrative distortion”.
In the brief, the defense team argues that the images of the videos “radically disprove” the version of the victim and do not show the young woman under a climate of “terror, fear or domination”.
The lawyers cast doubt on the victim’s version
The program ‘Y ahora Sonsoles’ has also had access to the appeal filed by the defense of Dani Alves.
“The lawyers doubt the victim’s version of events, and if there was any sexual assault,” explained Sonsoles Onega on Antena 3.
In the statement, Dani Alves‘ defence argues that “the dispassionate viewing of the images captured by the security cameras from the Sutton premises is enough to put in severe questioning or doubt some of the assertions raised almost to the level of proven fact”.
“The entrance of the complainant, her cousin and her friend is observed and, for 20 long minutes, five people can be seen chatting in a playful and cheerful manner… which is far from being the scene and context of “environmental intimidation”,” reports ‘Y ahora Sonsoles’ from the document written by Cristobal Martell‘s team of lawyers.
Alves’ lawyers also argue that their client entered the bathroom alone.
“It is observed how Dani Alves goes to the left and enters the door of the bathroom… after two minutes the complainant, after talking with her two friends and a waiter during that time, goes to that door and enters without Alves giving her the right of way or opening the door. The images speak for themselves,” Alves’ side argues.
The brief also verifies Alves‘ initial statement in which he denied that he had a sexual encounter with the complainant in the club.
“An initial denial finds a natural and rudimentary explanation in the desire to preserve his wife and children from conduct that is perhaps inappropriate for a sexual relationship,” it says.
What penalties Dani Alves is exposed to in the case of being found guilty?
According to the victim’s statement, which the investigating judge considers “forceful and persistent”, the player forced her in a bathroom located in a reserved area of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30 to 31.
Following the latest legislative modification, the penalties range from four to 12 years in prison when the aggression consists of carnal access through the vagina, anus, or mouth.
