Plea Agreement Judgment with Acquittal of Co-Defendant — Offence Against Public Health

These proceedings were brought against two people accused of an offence against public health involving substances that do and do not cause serious harm to health, following a search of a home in Marbella that led to the seizure of various narcotic substances. The Public Prosecutor's Office brought charges against both persons under investigation and the matter reached the trial stage before the Audiencia Provincial (Provincial Court).

Our defence strategy combined two distinct lines of work for each of our clients. For one of them, we negotiated a plea agreement (conformidad) with the Public Prosecutor's Office to have the sentence set at the lowest terms legally possible within the classification of the facts, avoiding the uncertainty and the risk of a heavier sentence should a contested trial be held. For the co-defendant, we argued that there was no evidence whatsoever that she had been aware of the unlawful activity taking place, since her actual involvement in the facts had not been established.

The result was twofold: on the one hand, a plea-agreement judgment was issued fixing the sentence at its minimum terms — three years' imprisonment and a fine, with the possibility of instalment payment — for one of our clients; on the other, the Public Prosecutor's Office withdrew the charges initially brought against the co-defendant, who was fully acquitted of all charges, as neither her participation nor her knowledge of the facts had been established.