The Supreme Court has decided to keep open the case initiated against the PP senator and former president of the Ourense Provincial Council José Manuel Baltar Blanco for an alleged crime against road safety for driving an official car at 215 kilometers per hour.
The judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court Ana Ferrer has rejected the annulment of the criminal procedure that Baltar had requested, who alleged that he had already been fined administratively for the same events with 600 euros (which he paid voluntarily) and loss of 6 points on his license. of driving.
Baltar testified in the Supreme Court on December 19, where he denied having committed the crime against road safety for which he is being investigated.
The proceedings against him were opened on April 23, 2023, when the Civil Guard surprised him driving at 215 kilometers per hour at the wheel of an official car on the A-52, near the municipality of Asturianos, in the province of Zamora, a section in which the speed is limited to 120 kilometers per hour.
Baltar denied in his statement that he was driving at that speed and even then he opposed the Supreme Court's investigation with the argument that for these events he had paid a fine, considering that, therefore, the proceedings should be archived.
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The investigating magistrate explains in the dismissal that the doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) recognizes that States have the power to legitimately opt for complementary legal responses “to certain socially unacceptable behaviors.” .
In the resolution issued, non-compliance with traffic regulations, non-payment of taxes or tax evasion are cited as examples.
All of this “through different procedures that form a coherent set to deal with the different aspects of the social problem in question, provided that these combined legal responses do not represent an excessive burden for the affected person.”
The instructor, supported by the Prosecutor's Office, adds that such procedures must be applied following the principle of proportionality.
She also cites the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court itself, which allows deducting from the eventual criminal sanction imposed that already executed in the previous administrative procedure.
In any case, the magistrate points out that it will be the sentencing court, in the event that the prosecution phase is reached, who will rule on the effects of the previous administrative sanction.
In the same order, the instructor agrees to the defense's request to issue letters to the General Directorate of the Civil Guard to report on the specificities of certain radar models.
Also for her to report on where the radar that detected the vehicle that Baltar was driving on April 23, 2023 on the A52 highway was located, and on the operation of the devices that print the fines.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the judge rejects, however, the early practice of the testimonial evidence proposed by the defense, considering it unnecessary at this time for the purposes of the investigation, given the data recorded in the report.
Finally, the order maintains unresolved the request made by the public ministry for the investigator to submit a request to the Senate in order to proceed criminally against the senator.
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