Last week, lawyer Inés Guardiola requested permission from the lawyer Cristóbal Martell, until then a lawyer, along with Arnau Xumetra and Miraida Puente, of the footballer Dani Alves, accused of a crime of rape.
It was the former Barcelona footballer and his entourage who a few weeks ago decided to take a turn in the defense strategy, which until now had been led by one of the most prestigious lawyers in Spain.
The change of lawyer, announced this Wednesday by journalist Carlos Quílez, occurs at the threshold of a particularly complicated trial for the accused and which should be held before the end of the year.
With the departure of Cristóbal Martell's office, the Tinkle communications agency, which in recent months had provided communicative support to Alves and his entire entourage, also withdraws from the defense strategy.
Cristóbal Martell learned of Alves' decision after receiving an email last week from the new lawyer, Inés Guardiola, in which she requested his permission. Sources from Martell's office confirm the change of defense to La Vanguardia and decline to assess the footballer's reasons for making the decision.
The footballer faces a trial for sexual assault after a young woman reported him last December for having raped her in a bathroom in a booth at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, an accusation that he has always denied, stating, after several previous contradictory statements , that the sexual encounter occurred but that it was consensual.
