The Supreme Court refuses to analyze the metadata of the guilty verdict in the case of “rapper” Mota Jr.

The Supreme Court (STJ) dismissed the appeal and refused to review the use of metadata in the murder conviction of “rapper” Mot Jr., while the defense announced an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

In the STJ’s ruling, to which Lusa had access, the consulting judges Antonio Gama, João Guerra, Orlando Gonçalves and Eduardo Loureiro dismissed the appeals of the defendants João Pedro Luiso and Edy Barreiros “to the extent that they contest the decision in the case.” facts”, and otherwise they found the complaints unfounded.

In particular, it is about the use of metadata as a means of evidence – in this case, geolocation through triangulation of the signal of mobile phone antennas – something that, according to STJ, cannot be the subject of consideration at this stage of the appeal, since it is this court that considers appeals only on matters of law, and not on matters of fact, which have already been decided at first instance and on appeal before the Court of Appeal of Lisbon (TRL).

Although it does not analyze the invalidity invoked by the defense on the basis of the Constitutional Court (CC) ruling on metadata, STU does not miss the opportunity to emphasize that the allegations of the appeals do not correspond exactly to what was proclaimed in the decision. TK.

Insisting that the STJ can only rule on a case that was at an earlier stage appealed to the Court of Appeal, the consultant judges stress that this is a new issue and that recourse to the Supreme Court as a “remedy” cannot be “knowledge of new matters not assessed by the appellate court.”

“The appeal to the STJ is solely to reconsider the question of law, and we are faced with a typical question of facts, and in this context it is not his task to determine what specific evidence made possible the assertion of proven facts. facts and, if they are among such evidence,” the verdict reads.

Referring to the first instance decision in which the Sintra Court panel defended the “absolute lawfulness” of the evidence that resorted to the use of metadata, STU emphasizes that “since such an understanding, intended to answer the question raised in the statements, can be challenged in the TRL, the applicants of this did not do”.

In the case of the defendant João Pedro Luiso, as already done by TRL, the allegations of a violation of the “in dubio pro reo” principle (in case of doubt, the decision is in favor of the defendant) and that the exercise of the right to silence was used against you in the decision court of first instance.

Contacted by Luza, Antonio Jaime, João Pedro Luiso’s lawyer, announced his intention to appeal this decision to the TC, confirming that the verdict was based on the “presumption that the defendant was at the scene of the crime” and that this presumption is based on the use of metadata, access to which declared the Labor Code unconstitutional.

In an April 19 ruling, TC declared unconstitutional metadata law rules requiring telephone and internet service providers to store data related to customer communications, including source, destination, date and time, equipment type, and location, for a period of time. one year, for possible use in a criminal investigation.

On November 24, 2021, a Sintra court sentenced João Pedro Luiso, Edy Barreiros and Fabio Martins to 23 years in prison under the law for the murder of “rapper” Mota Jr., aggravated robbery, kidnapping, desecration of a corpse and aggravated circumstances. theft.

The trial court also sentenced defendant Catarina Sanchez to four years and six months in prison for aggravated robbery, which, in the opinion of the presiding judge of the collective court, was committed in collaboration with other defendants, and not just “merely in complicity.” , which he argued was justification for not applying the suspended sentence that would have been possible with a sentence of less than five years in prison.

The decision of the Sintra court team was upheld by the TRL in April of this year.

David Mota (“rapper” Mota Jr.) was killed at the age of 28 on March 14, 2020 in Qasem, and two months later his body was found in an open area in Sesimbra.

According to the prosecution, the victim received several acts of violence and serious head injuries near the building where he lived, which caused his death.