Area of defence · Navarra & all of Spain
Defence in criminal organisation cases and mega-trials
Charges of membership of a criminal organisation or group, complex schemes and proceedings with dozens of defendants. Technical, individualised defence inside the mega-case.
What counts as a criminal organisation
The Spanish Criminal Code distinguishes the criminal organisation (article 570 bis) — a stable grouping of more than two people with a coordinated division of roles to commit crimes — from the criminal group (article 570 ter), a less demanding figure. The difference is not academic: it changes the penalty and, combined with offences like drug trafficking, can aggravate them severely. Many "organisation" charges do not survive a rigorous analysis of the requirements: stability, structure and a real hierarchy.
The mega-case: defending yourself inside a giant proceeding
These cases usually grow out of long investigations, with wiretaps, surveillance, undercover agents and dozens of defendants. The danger of the mega-case is generalisation: the prosecution treating alike the person who led and the person who barely appears in the file. My job is to individualise your position — what exactly is attributed to you, on what concrete evidence — and separate it from the whole.
Phone intercepts require a sufficiently reasoned judicial authorisation and justified extensions. Reviewing that chain of rulings is systematic in my defence: one badly authorised intercept can drag down a large part of the investigation.
How I work these cases
- Individualised study of your position in the case and of the evidence that concerns you.
- Review of the lawfulness of intercepts, searches and surveillance.
- Challenging the organisation/group classification where its requirements are not met.
- Defence against pre-trial detention — frequent in these cases — and its appeals.
- Coordination with co-defendants' counsel when useful — and independence when not.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions in these cases
What is the difference between an organisation and a criminal group?
The organisation requires stability over time and a coordinated division of roles among more than two people; the group is a residual figure with lower requirements and a lower penalty. Challenging that classification — or its application to your case — is a frequent and often decisive line of defence.
I appear in a mega-case with dozens of defendants — what does that mean for me?
That you need your own, individualised defence. In a mega-case each defendant answers only for what is personally attributed to them, on the evidence that concerns them. My job is to delimit your exact position and stop the size of the case working against you.
Can my phone be tapped legally?
Only with a reasoned judicial authorisation, for serious offences, and with equally justified extensions. The intercepts and their rulings are reviewed one by one: if the initial authorisation is defective, the recordings — and everything derived from them — can be null.
Is pre-trial detention common in these cases?
It is frequently requested, given the heavy penalties and the flight risk usually alleged. But pre-trial detention is an exceptional measure with strict requirements, and it can be appealed and reviewed. I act immediately at the hearing and on appeal.
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OffencesHome · Drug trafficking · Homicide & murder · Human trafficking · 24h emergencies · Pre-trial detention · Prison law · Extradition & Interpol · Financial crime