Specialist Damage Crimes Defense

The crime of damage, defined in Article 263 of the Penal Code, punishes anyone who "causes damage to another's property". Unlike theft or robbery, there is no profit motive (one does not want to keep the thing), but an intent to destroy (animus damnandi).

At Alonso Sala, we defend both individuals accused of vandalism or neighborhood damages, and companies victims of industrial or computer sabotage. Our intervention focuses on two axes: the legal qualification of the fact (is it a crime or civil infraction?) and the expert valuation of the damage, often inflated by the opposing party.

The Subjective Element: Animus Damnandi

The core of the crime is the deliberate intent to cause damage. Supreme Court case law requires that the perpetrator act knowingly that their conduct will destroy, render useless, or impair another's property:

• Direct Intent: I want to destroy my neighbor's car and set it on fire.
• Eventual Intent: I don't care if throwing a stone breaks the shop window. I accept the risk.
• Serious Recklessness: Only punishable if damage exceeds €80,000 (Art. 267 CP). Below that figure, clumsiness or negligence is not a crime.

Qualified Damages: When Penalties Skyrocket

The Penal Code hardens penalties (prison from 1 to 3 years) when specific circumstances increase the severity of the illicit act. The most common in our practice are:

1. Public Domain Property: Damage to infrastructure, monuments, urban furniture, or public facilities.
2. Historical-Artistic Heritage: Destruction or deterioration of goods of special cultural value (Art. 323 CP).
3. Victim's Ruin: When damage causes the victim's economic bankruptcy.
4. Essential Services: Affecting water, electricity, telecommunications, or transport supplies causing serious harm to the community.
5. Use of Explosives or Fire: Damage caused by fire or explosive substances is punished with special severity (Art. 351 et seq. CP).

Important Note: In forest fires or urbanized areas, the penalty can reach up to 20 years in prison if there is risk to human lives or catastrophic results.

Computer Damages (Art. 264 CP): The New Paradigm

The legislator has adapted the penal type to the digital era. Art. 264 specifically punishes those who:

• Delete, alter, or make computer data inaccessible: Deletion of databases, file manipulation, ransomware encryption.
• Render computer systems useless: DDoS attacks that collapse servers, introduction of viruses or trojans.
• Obstruct system operation: Internal sabotage, modification of source code or critical configurations.

In these cases, technical defense is purely technological: analysis of logs, network traffic, authorship through IPs, and breaking the chain of custody of digital evidence are essential for acquittal.

Arson: The Most Serious Modality

Intentional fires constitute the most dangerous form of damage, as they endanger not only property but people's lives. The Penal Code distinguishes:

• Fire in Own Property: Setting fire to our house is a crime if there is danger to third parties or if insurance fraud is sought.
• Forest Fire: Art. 352 CP. Penalties from 10 to 20 years if a large forest fire is produced. The presumption of intent is very strong in high-risk season.
• Urban Fire: Burning inhabited buildings or vehicles on public roads greatly aggravates the penalty due to collective risk.

Expert Damage Valuation: Battlefield

Often, the main conflict is not whether there was damage, but how much that damage is worth. The victim usually presents inflated appraisals that include:

• Replacement cost at new value (when prior wear should be valued).
• Inclusion of speculative loss of profit (unproven future losses).
• Unnecessary repairs or unrelated to the damage caused.

Our firm designates independent experts (architects, engineers, forensic IT specialists) who prepare counter-appraisals to demonstrate the real value of the harm and avoid disproportionate convictions.

Integral Criminal Defense Strategy

In damage crimes, passivity leads to conviction and astronomical compensation. Our firm deploys a proactive defense strategy in three phases:

• Investigation Phase: We request expert technical reports proving the absence of intent (accident, force majeure). We provide witnesses and videos demonstrating our version.
• Intermediate Phase: If the investigation is weak, we request dismissal due to atypicality of the facts (considering it a civil matter of extra-contractual liability).
• Oral Trial Phase: We challenge the opposing party's expert reports, demonstrating their methodological errors or conflicts of interest.

Damage Repair as Mitigation Strategy

In high-risk cases, we assess and manage Damage Repair. Paying the value of the destroyed asset before trial (or consigning it judicially) does not imply admitting guilt, but acts as "insurance": if there were a conviction, the penalty would be reduced by one or two degrees (highly qualified mitigating factor of Art. 21.5 CP), allowing in most cases the suspension of the prison sentence.