Defending repeat offenders: "If it didn't take a year to prosecute them, they'd already have a criminal record by the time they were caught again."

BarcelonaDealing with those arrested for all types of crimes in Barcelona and representing them before the judge who will decide whether they are released on bail or sent to prison while awaiting trial. This is the normal part of a day on duty for a public defender and also the work that attorney Pol Olivet will be doing for the next 24 hours.

The morning begins with two calls to deal with two detainees who spent the night at the Mossos d'Esquadra police station. One, for allegedly trying to steal a cell phone on the subway. He has already been arrested 26 times, several in recent weeks, and convicted twice for robbery and theft, for which he avoided prison time. The other detainee Olivet is supposed to deal with is accused of robbing a jewelry store. He has four prior police records, and the only case that came to light resulted in a fine.

The first step is to go to the police station where the detainees spent the night. Olivet meets with the detainees in a room adjacent to the prison cells. The first detainee, jinxed, repeats that he was arrested "for his face," for no reason. The Guardia Urbana report states that last night two plainclothes officers saw him board the metro at the Plaça Catalunya station very much in awe of a girl. She then got off right behind him at the next stop, Liceu, where she allegedly tried to steal his cell phone, an iPhone, from his pocket. He says he won't testify, either at the police station or in court, and asks for an Arabic interpreter when he has to speak to the judge. Olivet will meet with him again in a few hours once the Mossos d'Esquadra have taken him to court.

In the same courtroom, the second detainee who treated Olivet this morning listens as a Mossos d'Esquadra tells both him and his lawyer that a jewelry store's security cameras recorded him stealing a display of rings. "It's costume jewelry, but it's more than a thousand euros in total," the assistant warns. That's more than a hundred rings, which, according to the store, cost a total of 1,800 euros.

Already in court, Olivet receives the Prosecutor's Office's proposal to reach an agreement in the case of the detainee who tried to steal an iPhone. The agreement would reduce his sentence by a third, but would require him to confess. The lawyer has not yet been able to check the arrested person's criminal record, so he doesn't know what sentence he faces: the aggravating circumstance of repeated theft applies when there are three final convictions and the stolen amount exceeds 400 euros.

When the court hands him the criminal record, Olivet notes that the man has a prison sentence that has been suspended as long as he doesn't commit any more crimes for a while. In his case, this period is still valid, but by the time the trial comes, given the delays in the courts, it will likely have expired. "The system is so perverse that within a year and a half, the suspension will have expired, and he'll be able to accept the plea bargain, because he'll no longer have any outstanding convictions," says Olivet.

"The passage of time favors us, but it's not the best in terms of how the system works," says Olivet, referring to the delays in the justice system, which can sometimes work in favor of the defendants' interests. "If this were done quickly and the trial were held fifteen days later, there would be a verdict in days, and then a month for the appeal. You would have a process that would make sense, because you would revoke the suspended prison sentence and get him off the streets," he assesses regarding the effects of delays in fast-track trials, which on paper should be conducted within a certain timeframe.

These delays also impact the difficulty of applying the aggravating circumstance of criminal records, Olivet explains: "If they were tried the week after the theft, by the time they were caught again they would already have a criminal record. But, on the other hand, it takes more than a year." Another factor that often makes it difficult to apply aggravating circumstances in a theft is certifying that the items stolen previously have a total value of more than 400 euros. The appraisal of the items is usually quick, but sometimes the process of obtaining a certificate from the courts that issued the previous sentences to prove the value of the items is slowed down. Lately, a note about whether the item cost more than 400 euros or not is usually included in the criminal record, but many still don't provide this information, and it must be requested from the court that issued the sentence.

"If he makes a deal and is caught stealing again, he'll have to go to jail."

Like the first detainee, Olivet doesn't believe it's in the best interest of the second detainee he's dealing with today to reach an agreement. Accepting a plea deal with the Prosecutor's Office would mean a suspended sentence on the condition that he doesn't reoffend, but that would mean giving up "his own life." modus vivendi", Olivet admits.

"If he makes a deal now and they catch him stealing again in two months, he'll have to go to jail, even if it's just for a few months," the lawyer says before going down to the jail to advise him that, when he sits before the judge, he should exercise his rights. rt when the trial comes It won't be, however, in two weeks.