The trial of former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves, Barcelona/Reuters
The second day of Dani Alves' trial - considered the "trial of the year" in Spain - included several more dramatic testimonies, with the former Brazilian footballer fighting for his innocence while accused of raping a young woman in a night club, but it is doubtful whether the witnesses for the defense helped the defense line.
Alves was again present in the courtroom, wearing a gray polo shirt with long sleeves and wearing glasses.
He has been in custody since his arrest for alleged sexual assault - a charge he has repeatedly denied - in January last year.
After the testimony of the complainant, her friend and her cousin was heard, on Tuesday it was the turn of 21 more witnesses.
This included Alves' wife, Joana Sanz, and Bruno Brasil - Alves' friend who was with him on the night of December 30, 2022, when Alves allegedly raped a 23-year-old woman in a private bathroom at the Sutton nightclub.
drank copious amounts.
Alves/GettyImages, DAVID ZORRAKINO/POOL/AFP
The first to testify was the manager of the nightclub, Robert Massent, who said he saw three young women, including the alleged victim, crying at the entrance and talking to the doorman.
He went there to talk to them.
He said he wanted to know what happened.
At that moment Danny Alves passed in the exit corridor and the complainant said: "It was him."
The manager took them to a quieter private room.
"She (the victim) was very upset and wanted to go home, but I needed to know what happened," he said.
"She told me that she entered (the private bathroom) voluntarily but then wanted to get out and couldn't. She didn't think anyone would believe her."
According to him, the woman initially did not want the club to activate the required procedures in case of suspected sexual assault.
"I explained to her that we have to do it," Massent said.
"It was hard for her to understand because she wanted to leave and go home, but we made her see that it was our duty."
He also claimed that the videos from the security cameras matched her testimony.
Rafael Ledo, who that night was responsible for managing the VIP room where Alves and the complainant met, said that Alves was a regular customer at the place but that night he looked different.
"He was not normal, like he had been drinking or smoking something," LeDoux said.
He claimed that he heard the complainant tell her friends that "she knew why she let herself enter the bathroom area with them, but then she regretted it, and she didn't want to be there anymore."
He said that she "cried a lot" and did not want to complain but her friends convinced her to do so.
Then came the testimony of Bruno Brazil, the friend who was with Alves at table number 6 in Sutton's VIP room.
He arrived at the trial with an interpreter to help him translate between Portuguese and Spanish.
According to him, the actor was very drunk on the night of the events.
Brazil said that before going to the Sutton Club they went to eat at a restaurant and drank a large amount of alcohol.
They ordered several bottles of wine - Alves drank one and a half himself - as well as Japanese whiskey, of which Alves drank two glasses.
According to Brazil, Alves was the one who drank the most.
He said they then went to Nova, a well-known bar in the upscale area of Barcelona, where they continued to drink.
He said Alves drank four gin and tonics.
Brazil placed great emphasis during his testimony on Alves' drinking, even saying he had to drive to the club in Alves' car because the footballer was unfit.
At the club, they ordered a three-liter bottle of champagne, and Brazile said he invited the alleged victim and her two girlfriends to join them in their private room.
He said that Alves danced with them, that at one point Alves went to the bathroom and that the alleged victim followed him.
He said Alves didn't tell him about anything he planned.
When Alves left, Brazil said, everyone continued to dance for a while, until the three women left.
After that they also went home, because they drank heavily.
He then drove Alves home.
According to him, he did not see the complainant on their way out of the club because "the exit corridor was very dark."
However, both the complainant's lawyer and the legal team working for the prosecution argued that there were contradictions in Brazil's testimony.
In the pre-trial phase, Brazil testified that "the soccer player had stomach problems and that's why he left quickly" and that "they only drank half a drink."
Brazil replied that "half a drink" refers to his consumption and not Alves's.
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The police officer who first treated the woman said: "We had to calm her down because she was unable to speak. She told us that she had an incident with a man. She told us that the accused did not let her go out, that he touched her genitals. Her friends, who could speak better than her, They gave us more details. They were very upset and told us that the accused had touched them as well. She did not want to report it, but we explained to her what options she had."
The officer also said that the woman told them that "she doesn't want money" but that "she wants justice."
Another friend of Alves testified.
"We drank five bottles of wine and one bottle of whiskey," he said, insisting that he and Alves drank a lot.
The restaurant manager also testified that Alves left "in a very different state than when he entered."
Next to testify was Alves' ex-wife, the model Joanna Sanz.
The judge gave Saenz the option not to testify in the case against her husband, but she did testify, and said that that night her husband "came home very drunk, smelled of drinking alcohol, bruised when he ran into a closet and fell on the bed in a state of exhaustion."
It should be noted that in the past, in interviews after the affair was revealed, Saenz said that "he never gets drunk".
Today (Wednesday) on the third and last day of the trial, Alves is expected to testify.
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Dani Alves