The nine anonymous citizens who will be part of the popular jury that will judge Begoña Gómez, wife of the President of the Government, for alleged crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement will remain incommunicado for the duration of the deliberation and will receive in exchange about 70 euros per day.
The Organic Law of the Jury Court, in force since 1995, provides that nine citizens chosen by lottery, in addition to two substitutes, can judge crimes such as homicide, threats, omission of the duty to provide assistance, housebreaking, fires, infidelity in the custody of prisoners or documents, bribery, embezzlement of public funds or influence peddling, among others.
These last two crimes are those that Judge Juan Carlos Peinado accuses Begoña Gómez of and that will lead her, on a date yet to be determined, to a jury trial in the Provincial Court of Madrid.
It is possible that some of the people who may end up being part of that jury have already received the corresponding notification at home. In the last fortnight of September of even-numbered years, the provincial delegations of the Electoral Census Office carry out the draw to prepare the biennial list of jury candidates.
In the case of Madrid, this list is made up of 2,846 people, who receive a questionnaire in which they are informed of the necessary requirements to be able to serve as members of a popular jury.
The law establishes that Spaniards of legal age who are in full exercise of their political rights, know how to read and write, are residents of the province in which the crime was committed and are not affected by a physical or mental disability that prevents them from performing this function can be elected.
Excluded are those who have been convicted of an intentional crime and have not obtained rehabilitation, people immersed in a judicial process or those who are detained, in provisional detention or serving a prison sentence.
Nor can members of the Royal Family, the Government or senior officials of the Administration be part of a popular jury, as well as senators and deputies, active members of the Judicial and Fiscal careers, personnel related to the Administration of Justice, university professors of legal disciplines, active members of the Security Forces and Corps or officials of Penitentiary Institutions.
According to María Luisa Escalada, professor of Procedural Law at the University of Valladolid, to the Efe agency, 36 people are selected by lottery from the list drawn up by the census one month before the trial takes place.
A questionnaire is sent to all of them again to verify that there are no incompatibilities and, after this filtering, there must be at least 20 people left, who will have to go to court on the day the court is constituted.
That day, both the prosecution and the defense of Begoña Gómez will be able to ask questions to the candidates to evaluate their suitability and each of the parties will be able to challenge a maximum of four people.
This process will ultimately result in a popular jury made up of nine members and two alternates, who will also attend the trial.
All of them will receive about 70 euros per day, in addition to food if necessary, and will remain isolated for the duration of the deliberation, from the moment the object of the verdict is delivered to them and until they reach a decision.
The purpose of this isolation is to avoid any outside influence while the members of the jury deliberate on the facts that have been the subject of the trial.
A magistrate with more than 20 years of experience in the Provincial Court of Madrid explains to the Efe agency that the jury does not resolve legal issues, but rather must rule on the facts based on the evidence conducted during the oral trial and respond to the questionnaire prepared by the magistrate.
Seven of the jury's nine votes are necessary to consider the accused guilty, while five are enough to declare him not guilty. The questionnaire must also be reasoned and have a well-founded motivation.
"The jury does not decide anything legal, but rather decides on facts that it considers proven or not and, based on that, there is a legal consequence that the judge applies in the sentence," explains the magistrate.
The decision can be appealed before the Superior Court of Justice and, subsequently, before the Supreme Court.
The magistrate consulted by Efe recognizes that the crime of embezzlement presents considerable technical difficulty and expresses his doubts about the suitability of a criminal offense of these characteristics being the responsibility of a popular jury. However, he rejects that a court of this type is easily manipulated.
"Based on my experience, the people who are part of a popular jury have a lot of common sense. There are nine people who make a collective decision, after deliberation and with an exchange of opinions," he says.
He adds that, although the jury may be subject to pressure from public opinion, that same pressure can also affect the judges themselves.
