A judge who forgot to release a prisoner from jail after he had been acquitted has herself been in court to answer charges of negligence. Former judge Adelina Entrena denies any neglicence on her part.
Judge Adelina Entrena was in charge of Court Number 1 in Motril before being removed from her post and has been appearing before the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía (Superior Court of Andalucía) to answer charges of negligence.
José Campoy, an habitual criminal, had been acquitted of the crime of robbery with violence but remained in custody for a year. In denying negligence, the Adelina Entrena claims she did not know that Campoy was being held in custody and assumed, as he was renowned as an habitual offender, that he was in prison as the result of another, earlier conviction, and therefore did not expressly order his release.
As for José Campoy, he apparently bears no grudge against the judge, despite one year in prison during which time he didn’t really know what was going on. It seems that, at the time of his acquittal, he was handed the notification letter by a prison officer. However, it also seems that no-one was aware that Campoy could neither read nor write, and therefore was unaware of the actual contents of the letter.
The prosecution is asking for a 15 months suspension from holding public office as the result of ‘gross negligence’ and payment to José Campoy of €75,230, being €15,230 for the extra time he spent in prison and €60,000 for ‘moral damage’. A private prosecution is also being brought at the same time and they are requesting a longer suspension period.
The defence are arguing that because the judge was unaware that Campoy was wrongly imprisoned, this exempts her from any liablity.
….always thought that ‘ignorance’ was no defence in law, certainly not for common individuals….