The decision of the Feira Court, dated October 2024, has now been upheld by the TRP, which denied the appeal filed by the former magistrate.
The former judge, a native of Santa Maria da Feira in the Aveiro district, was convicted of aggravated threat and sentenced to a fine of 100 days at a daily rate of 15 euros, totaling 1,500 euros.
The incident occurred on the night of April 28, 2021. The court found that the defendant and another individual began arguing with a restaurant owner in Santa Maria da Feira after they were refused alcoholic beverages.
The GNR was called to the scene, and when one of the officers approached the defendant to request identification, as he refused to move his poorly parked vehicle, he presented his professional card from the Superior Council of Magistracy, claiming the officer was dealing with a “shark” and suggested that the officer’s uniform would not protect him for long.
The defendant further threatened the officer with death, referencing the notorious Aguiar da Beira case: “Have you never heard of the Pedro Dias case of Arouca? Don’t you remember what he did to the guards and that couple? Look, it might happen to you, and it might not take long.”
The appellate judges had no doubt that the defendant intended to intimidate the victim with the threat of future violence, noting that the language used and the comparison to the Pedro Dias case were meant to cause fear or unease, irrespective of the officer’s role and habitual encounters with problematic situations and individuals.
The former magistrate was stationed in Santa Maria da Feira until being compulsorily retired in 2015 by the Superior Council of Magistracy due to conducting procedural acts that suggested he was under the influence of alcohol or medication.
Prior to this incident, the ex-judge was fined 4,000 euros for assaulting a couple, and in another matter, he received a suspended 15-month prison sentence for dangerous driving, disobedience, and aggravated defamation.
