Who Ordered Daphne's Murder? Jury Acquits Tycoon

Key vocabulary

• juradom.

  jury

  “El jurado ha deliberado durante tres días.”— The jury has deliberated for three days.

  Pattern el jurado popular people's jury

  Compare tribunal (m.) court

  Plural: jurados

  💡 From Latin iurare (to swear), jury members must take an oath.

• absolverv.

  to acquit, to absolve

  “El tribunal absolvió al acusado por falta de pruebas.”— The court acquitted the defendant due to lack of evidence.

  Pattern absolver a alguien de un cargo to acquit someone of a charge

  Compare exculpar (v.) to exonerate

  Past participle: absuelto; present perfect: ha absuelto

  💡 Prefix ab- (away) + solver (to loosen), meaning 'to loosen guilt'.

• empresariom.

  businessman, entrepreneur

  “El empresario fue acusado de corrupción.”— The businessman was accused of corruption.

  Pattern empresario exitoso successful entrepreneur

  Compare hombre de negocios businessman

  Feminine: empresaria; plural: empresarios

  💡 From empresa (enterprise), suffix -ario means 'person engaged in...'.

• autor intelectualm.

  mastermind, intellectual author

  “La policía busca al autor intelectual del atentado.”— The police are looking for the mastermind of the attack.

  Pattern ser el autor intelectual de un crimen to be the mastermind of a crime

  Compare cerebro (m.) mastermind

  Plural: autores intelectuales

  💡 autor means 'author', intelectual means 'intellectual', together meaning 'intellectual author'.

• asesinatom.

  murder, assassination

  “El asesinato de la periodista conmocionó al país.”— The murder of the journalist shocked the country.

  Pattern asesinato premeditado premeditated murder

  Compare homicidio (m.) homicide

  Plural: asesinatos

  💡 Formed from asesino (killer) + -ato (noun suffix).

• complicidadf.

  complicity, collusion

  “Fue acusado de complicidad en el robo.”— He was accused of complicity in the robbery.

  Pattern complicidad en el asesinato complicity in the murder

  Compare cómplice (m./f.) accomplice

  Plural: complicidades

  💡 From cómplice (accomplice), suffix -idad indicates a quality.

• asociación delictivaf.

  criminal association (offense)

  “La asociación delictiva fue desmantelada por la policía.”— The criminal association was dismantled by the police.

  Pattern formar parte de una asociación delictiva to be part of a criminal organization

  Compare banda criminal (f.) criminal gang

  Plural: asociaciones delictivas

  💡 asociación (association) + delictiva (criminal), a legal term.

• inocenteadj.

  innocent, not guilty

  “El acusado fue declarado inocente.”— The defendant was declared innocent.

  Pattern declarar inocente to declare innocent

  Compare culpable (adj.) guilty (antonym)

  Plural: inocentes

  💡 From Latin innocens, in- (not) + nocere (to harm).

• cadena perpetuaf.

  life imprisonment

  “El asesino fue condenado a cadena perpetua.”— The murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment.

  Pattern condenar a cadena perpetua to sentence to life imprisonment

  Compare prisión de por vida (f.) life imprisonment

  Plural: cadenas perpetuas

  💡 cadena (chain) + perpetua (perpetual), a vivid expression 'perpetual chain'.

• comunicadom.

  statement, press release

  “La familia emitió un comunicado oficial.”— The family issued an official statement.

  Pattern emitir un comunicado to issue a statement

  Compare declaración (f.) statement

  Plural: comunicados

  💡 From comunicar (to communicate), -do forms a noun.

• deficienciasf. pl.

  deficiencies, shortcomings

  “Las deficiencias del sistema causaron el error.”— The system's deficiencies caused the error.

  Pattern deficiencias institucionales institutional deficiencies

  Compare fallos (m. pl.) failures

  Singular: deficiencia

  💡 From Latin deficientia, related to 'lack'.

• abordarv.

  to address, to tackle

  “El gobierno debe abordar la corrupción.”— The government must address corruption.

  Pattern abordar un problema to tackle a problem

  Compare tratar (v.) to deal with

  Present: abordo, abordas, aborda...

  💡 Originally 'to dock', extended to 'to tackle'.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Un jurado ha absuelto este miércoles al empresario maltés Yorgen Fenech.

  On Wednesday, a jury acquitted Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech.

  Un jurado ha absuelto a [person] de [charge].You can replace the person and the charge.

• Fenech estaba acusado de complicidad en el asesinato y asociación delictiva.

  Fenech was accused of complicity in murder and criminal association.

  [person] estaba acusado de [crime] y [crime].You can replace the defendant and the charges.

• Ha sido declarado inocente de ambos cargos.

  He has been declared innocent of both charges.

  Ha sido declarado inocente de [charge].You can replace the charge.

• La familia ha emitido un comunicado en el que señala que la absolución niega a la periodista "la justicia que merece".

  The family issued a statement pointing out that the acquittal denies the journalist 'the justice she deserves'.

  [person] ha emitido un comunicado en el que señala que [statement].You can replace the subject and the content of the statement.

• Este día debería haber sido de Daphne.

  This day should have been Daphne's.

  Este [noun] debería haber sido de [person].You can replace the noun and the person's name.