Rodolfo Sancho’s Legal Battle in Thailand: A Civil War Within His Defense Team

Things have been complicated for Rodolfo Sancho since he landed in Thailand, a month after his son, Daniel Sancho, murdered Edwin Arrieta by slitting his throat. The actor has delayed his trip to put in order all the legal and economic issues that the defense will entail of his offspring before the Thai courts, which is asking for the maximum penalty, the death sentence. To avoid this fatal end, the interpreter has armed himself with a large group of legal professionals, who join forces and minds to find the ins and outs of the case and the faulty investigation by the police, in order to free their son from death row and bring him to Spain within a minimum period of four years. However, within his legal team something like a civil war.

The journalist Adrián Foncillas, who reports on the current case from Thailand, has put on the table an unexpected scuffle between the offices that the family of Daniel Sancho has hired for his defense. The first to throw the stone publicly has been the last to join -without taking into account the signing of a Thai assistant-, the lawyer Marcos Garcia Montes. He has done it at the gates of the Koh Samui prison, on his second visit to his client accompanied by his father. There He has launched his first reproach to his partner in the case, although not in the office, Fernando Ocawith whom it has reached a point of confrontation.

García Montes wanted to transmit through the journalists stationed at the prison gates, that “He expects to receive a copy of the proceedings from Fernando Oca’s office as soon as they land in Thailand, but they have not done so”. A reproach that has caught locals and strangers by surprise, since it shows that communication between both defense factions leaves much to be desired. In addition, the lawyer has complained that in the end “he had to make the arrangements himself in the court of the court”, which It has taken three hours of his time, something that annoys him because “they should have been done before so as not to go blindly in the defense strategy”.

Faced with this direct dart, the journalist Adrián Foncillas has called the opposing party to find out the opinion of Fernando Oca: “He has given us permission to read this response, he has told us that neither the office of Fernando Oca nor the lawyer in Thailand, Klun Anan, they have received no communication or request from the Marcos García Montes team, neither before nor after traveling to Thailand”. With this they make it clear not only that the error is not theirs, but also that the communication between both parties is not fluid. But as if this public response was not enough, he also added that “Fernando Oca’s office was selected and hired directly by Rodolfo Sancho, not imposed”. A hint?

This discussion in full view of the whole world is an added problem for the family of Daniel Sancho. However, it seems that the defense work is already underway, as Marcos García Montes himself advanced his strategy a bit at the prison gates: “We are preparing very interesting tests and we are working hard. The court needs to position itself and be more empathetic with our line than with that of the prosecutor, we are there.”, he proudly acknowledged, although he also confessed to having problems in his work due to the lack of the summary, which will have to be translated later. Despite everything, the lawyer is optimistic and encourages his own team: “You have to be brave.”