Starting next Tuesday, the Madrid Provincial Court will try a civil guard for causing the shooting death of a young man who threatened the officers with two small knives while suffering from a psychotic breakdown. The family of the victim, Diego Martínez-Conde, requests four years in prison against the officer who fired the two shots for reckless homicide, while the prosecution reduces its request to a fine since it considers that the agent did not commit gross negligence.
Diego was 26 years old and suffered from a psychiatric disorder that led him, for seasons, to wander from one place to another. On September 27, 2020, he was in Manzanares El Real, a town in the mountains of Madrid, although his family does not reside there. Some municipal police officers asked him to put on the mask, obligatory at the time, and he got angry. The officers left him to calm down but someone had already called the emergency services and a couple from the Civil Guard arrived on the scene. Given Diego’s aggressive attitude, a dozen agents were ultimately deployed to subdue him.
Guards say Diego attacked the officer who fired the fatal shots after threatening to kill them while brandishing two small knives. The accused civil guard, aged 28 at the time of the facts, is defended by the prosecution, which requests his acquittal. In his brief, the lawyer assures that the accused, “fearing for his life and as the only means of repelling the illegitimate attack, fired two shots into the legs of Mr. Martínez-Conde, looking at all times for the non-vital areas and causing as little damage as possible.
A report from the Criminalistics Laboratory placed the shots at approximately one and a half meters, after analyzing Diego’s clothing and the entrance holes left by the bullets. However, another ballistic report extends the distance of the shots to 2.6 meters, which would cast further doubt on the fact that the victim threw himself at the Civil Guard at the moment he fired.
Diego’s family believes that so many officers could have subdued him without having to shoot him. They used firearms, according to their representation, despite the fact that there were 12 agents with extendable tusks against an individual with a multi-purpose knife with a blade of six centimeters and another half a centimeter longer . “No one called a mental health unit despite the evidence of being confronted with a patient in a psychotic crisis,” he adds.
A fine, according to the prosecution
Diego began to feel unwell as a teenager due to a serious illness that he overcame, but which left a psychological mark on him. Hospital admissions continued and at the age of 19 he was arrested for ill-treatment. Six years later, a Madrid court issued a restraining order against a girl he had had a relationship with. His illness prevents him from finding work despite the talent he shows in graphic design.
On the evening of the events, he was in the Madrid town of Manzanares el Real. As he often did, Diego went from place to place and slept in boarding houses, although he did not come from a deprived background. His family was committed to making sure he took the medicine, but for seasons controlling the adult Diego became impossible. The family of the deceased describes him as a very sociable boy, “surrounded by friends”, despite the mental illness from which he suffered.
The prosecution requests a conviction for a minor offense of homicide for less serious recklessness and that the Civil Guard and the State compensate Diego’s family, parents and brothers and sisters, to the tune of 88,000 euros.
