The 31-year-old driver is on trial in a Leiria court for causing the death of a 27-year-old friend in a rollover accident and collision with a telecommunications pole while driving at high speed and under the influence of alcohol.
The accident occurred in March 2022 on the EN109 highway in Regueira de Pontes, Leiria, and resulted in the death of Ruben Raimundo, who was a member of the support group União de Leiria and was at the executioner’s place while returning home after a night of partying.
According to the DOJ indictment, the driver, Joao Gil, “knew that he was consuming alcoholic beverages in sufficient quantity and quality to affect his agility, sense of direction, reflexes, reaction time and alertness, which nevertheless did not impair his ” “from driving at “excessive speed” and overtaking in a prohibited place. Before turning, he flew off the road, crashed into a pole and overturned. He is being tried for gross negligence murder and driving while intoxicated.