Spain’s Supreme Court orders €2.5m compensation to man wrongly imprisoned 18 years for rapes he did not commit

The ruling

Spain’s highest court this morning ordered the state to pay Ahmed Tommouhi €2.5 million for the damage caused by a judicial error that sent him to prison for rapes he did not commit. The decision by the Supreme Court’s Administrative Chamber overturns a previous denial by the Audiencia Nacional and the Ministry of Justice, which had argued no 'crass or evident' error existed.

“That error was decisive in keeping the appellant deprived of liberty for an extraordinarily prolonged period — approximately 18 years — enforcing a sentence that has been nullified by the declaration of his innocence, which constitutes an impact of maximum intensity on the fundamental right to personal freedom.”

The ignored evidence

At the original trial before the Barcelona Provincial Court in 1992, the judges admitted but failed to evaluate a biological expert report from the Scientific Police. The report showed that semen stains on the victim’s clothing were of blood group B, a genetic profile incompatible with Tommouhi. The conviction rested almost entirely on the victim’s testimony and less conclusive blood analyses.

“There emerges directly, clearly and unequivocally the existence of a qualified mistake, characterised by the omission of an objective expert report, its incompatibility with the incriminating hypothesis, its potential to determine the verdict, and the consequent breakdown of the logical process of forming judicial conviction.”

Later it was discovered that the semen actually belonged to Antonio García Carbonell, a Spanish citizen with a strong physical resemblance to Tommouhi.

A long road through the courts

The events date back to November 1991 in several towns in the province of Tarragona: a rape in Olesa on 5 November, another in Cornellá on 7 November, and rapes in La Secuita and La Bisbal on the night of 9–10 November. Tommouhi was convicted for the Olesa and Cornellá attacks. In 1997 the Supreme Court overturned the Olesa conviction, which had carried a 51‑year sentence. It took until June 2023 for the same court to overturn the Cornellá conviction, which had imposed 24 years and 22 days. Tommouhi remained imprisoned from November 1991 until April 2009, nearly 18 years, though some reports cite 15 years due to the staggered annulments.

The compensation battle

Following the 2023 acquittal, Tommouhi sought €3,645,000 from the Ministry of Justice under the state’s patrimonial responsibility. The Ministry refused, and the Audiencia Nacional upheld the denial in April 2025, holding that a review judgment does not automatically establish an indemnifiable judicial error. The Supreme Court has now rejected that reasoning, finding that the error was so fundamental that the requirement of a prior formal declaration of judicial error is satisfied by the content of the review judgment itself.

Broader significance

The case highlights the financial consequences for the state when courts disregard exculpatory forensic evidence. The ruling notes that the length of Tommouhi’s detention alone places the case in a realm of 'exceptional gravity'. It reiterates that a failure to examine an objective, incorporated expert report that would have compelled an acquittal constitutes a qualified judicial mistake meriting compensation.