Overview
- The Audiencia de Barcelona’s Section Five cleared all charges against two officers and an uncle–nephew pair linked to the alleged framing of port worker Carlos L. in June 2016.
- The court nullified intercepted calls and audio devices installed in a vehicle and a police office, deeming the judicial authorizations prospective and unsupported by solid indicia.
- Prosecutors had sought 18 years and 9 months for the officers for alleged illegal detention, drug offenses and false reporting, but the panel said the valid evidence did not establish authorship.
- Magistrates criticized the prolonged anonymity of confidential informants and noted that key witnesses displayed sudden memory lapses during the November trial.
- The ruling states only that drugs, a pistol and other weapons were planted in the worker’s car, and references the broader, unresolved violence around the Port of Barcelona, including the killing of David “Bubito” Caballero.