The ruling dated October 29, examined today, declared the previous verdict null due to an oversight on the issue of the defendant’s accountability.
The Supreme Court judges have sent the case back to the lower court for the issuance of a new ruling addressing this issue.
On June 5, the woman was sentenced in the Vila do Conde Court to five and a half years in prison for attempted qualified homicide, with the panel of judges accepting the forensic psychiatric report’s conclusion that the defendant had “diminished responsibility” at the time of the act.
However, the Supreme Court judges emphasize that the lower court merely repeated the conclusions of the expert report without assessing it to justify a choice regarding the defendant’s criminal responsibility or lack thereof.
“It is not sufficient for a medical-psychiatric evaluation to declare that the agent has a mental disorder and conclude for ‘diminished responsibility’ to directly and automatically conclude such diminished responsibility, as responsibility or lack thereof depends on a judicial decision, even if supported by medical evaluations,” the Supreme Court ruling states.
According to the prosecution, the defendant and the victim dated for two years but had a “relationship marked by frequent conflicts.”
On August 14, 2024, the prosecution adds, inside their home and following a new conflict, “the defendant insulted her partner, threatened him, and hit him with a decorative object [a wooden parrot],” then grabbed a kitchen knife with a 15-centimeter blade and inflicted multiple wounds (12) on his upper body.
During the trial, the defendant admitted feeling jealous of her partner but claimed he also controlled her: “He didn’t want me to work; I ended up trapped in the apartment, got depressed, gained a lot of weight, and he made negative comments about my body, to which I responded negatively about his, and he told me in China they kill women for saying such things.”
The victim declined to answer questions in court but stated he forgave the defendant and still wishes to marry her.
