Jury in Seville acquits Rafael Vicario over 2019 highway death of Ana Buza

The verdict in Seville

A nine-member jury at the Provincial Court of Seville has declared 32-year-old Rafael Vicario not guilty in the death of his former partner, 19-year-old Ana Buza. The decision, delivered on Tuesday following approximately 24 hours of deliberation, resulted in a formal acquittal issued by the presiding judge. Six women and three men served on the jury, which reached its conclusions across multiple specific propositions.

By a 7–2 majority, jurors determined that there was no proof that Vicario intentionally ran over Buza on the A-4 highway near Carmona. In addition, the panel unanimously found that while Vicario was driving at 117 kilometres per hour in a section restricted to 80 kilometres per hour, this speed was not the direct cause of her death. Seven jurors concluded that the right rear door opened and Buza exited the vehicle under unclarified circumstances.

Competing accounts of the highway incident

The death occurred during the early hours of 7 September 2019 near junction 511 of the A-4 highway in Carmona. According to the original police investigation by the Civil Guard and forensic specialists from the Seville Institute of Legal Medicine, Buza was seated in the back of the car when she opened the door and fell onto the asphalt at 117 kilometres per hour, sustaining fatal injuries against the crash barrier.

The legal team representing Buza's parents presented a different sequence of events during the nine trial sessions. The private prosecution asserted that Buza stepped out of the vehicle following a dispute, after which Vicario deliberately struck her with the car at 117 kilometres per hour. Forensic experts retained by the family maintained that physical principles supported their reconstruction.

Ana could not open the door to get out of the vehicle in motion, she could not throw herself, it goes against the laws of physics. It is not interpretation or subjectivity, it is science.

Evolution of the legal proceedings

The case originally closed within 36 hours when an instruction judge in Carmona ruled the death a suicide. The family pursued a reopening after receiving an email from a therapist who had treated the couple regarding Vicario's jealousy. The family subsequently engaged specialists in aerospace engineering, forensic science, and technology, seeking a 20-year prison sentence for murder.

Public prosecutors initially sought a three-year sentence for reckless homicide based on the recorded driving speed. In the final phase of the trial, the public prosecutor shifted stance and presented an alternative conclusion requesting an acquittal, noting that evidence did not substantiate an intentional strike.

What occurred exactly in the vehicle we cannot know.

Trial conclusion and evidentiary findings

The private prosecution also cited data deletions detected on Buza's computer and mobile phone, as well as testimony from a university classmate and a psychotherapist regarding relationship conflicts. However, jurors dismissed the private prosecution's claims, determining that the physical injuries were consistent with exiting the moving vehicle rather than an intentional impact.

Following the reading of the verdict in open court, the judicial proceedings concluded with the formal confirmation of Vicario's acquittal.