Briefing
The Sección Quinta of the Audiencia Provincial de Murcia based in Cartagena has cleared a man, known by the nickname «El Luli», of two homicide charges on 9 November 2026. According to the court record, on 6 November 2021 a group of armed people entered the defendant’s flat in the Las Seiscientas district, allegedly to enforce demands for money linked to drug trafficking. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, the occupant was injured; he then used a firearm. Two of the attackers died of their gunshot wounds, one of them several days later in hospital. The court accepted that there was an unlawful, imminent attack at the time and that using the firearm was the last suitable act of defence (legítima defensa); the defendant was therefore acquitted of the charges underlying the homicide allegations.
At the same time, the Sección Quinta convicted the man on separate counts of drug trafficking and unlawful possession of firearms. The prison sentences imposed were suspended, according to the court. Several other defendants linked to the raid accepted various, mostly short, prison sentences, which were also suspended, according to court records; individual charges ranged from attempted extortion and trespass to assault.
The decision concludes a criminal case that had been ongoing for years and attracted considerable public attention in Cartagena. The reasoning behind the judgment is based on the court’s findings about the danger and urgency of the attack and the proportionality of the act of defence. Statements by the defence and prosecution, specific motives for the crime and the length of the suspended sentences are documented in the judgment; the court expressly left broader assessments of its significance for criminal justice policy to other bodies.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).