Juan José Domínguez and Elena Garrido are Rosario and Alfonso’s lawyers in The Asunta Case. Francesc Orella plays Domínguez, and Alicia Borrachero plays Garrido.
Initially, when Rosario and Alfonso are arrested, it is Rosario’s family lawyer who represents them.
However, the family lawyer, not being a criminal lawyer, soon realizes that the police have enough evidence against Rosario and Alfonso to take them to trial.
He then suggests that Asunta’s godmother hire a criminal lawyer named Juan José Domínguez, also known as Juanjo, to represent Rosario.
The decision to defend Rosario and Alfonso
Asunta’s murder case garners a lot of public attention due to Rosario and Alfonso being the major suspects.
Domínguez easily agrees to represent Rosario because he thinks it will be a good opportunity to become famous.
When it is found that the stains on Asunta’s T-shirt do not match Alfonso’s DNA, he gets false hope that the case will be easy to win.
He then convinces his colleague, Elena Garrido, to represent Alfonso; Domínguez wants to put up a joint defense with Garrido.
Garrido knows that a joint defense would be better for Rosario, who has more evidence incriminating her compared to Alfonso, but Garrido still agrees.
Garrido’s only request is that she wants to be away from the spotlight, as she has a son and does not want that kind of exposure.
This suits Domínguez, who wants to be in the spotlight. He promises that he will be the face of the defense.
The lawyers’ efforts
A witness comes forward, challenging the timeline of when Asunta’s body was left on the side of the road. Domínguez and Garrido conduct a visibility check with him.
They both know that the witness is biased, but Domínguez still intends to use his testimony in court.
Domínguez is well aware that cases are not just fought in the courtroom, so he talks to the media to sway public opinion in favor of Rosario and Alfonso.
Meanwhile, Garrido convinces Alfonso to give his laptop to the police to show his willingness to cooperate.
Garrido notices Judge Malvar’s biases as well as how he is being portrayed by the media. She believes that Alfonso and Rosario’s right to a fair defense is being violated.
She also criticizes Judge Malvar for his inappropriate pre-trial actions and the lack of transparency in the case, especially when he speaks to a witness in the defense’s absence.
Both Domínguez and Garrido suspect that their clients are hiding something significant from them because there are still gaps in the story.
They both fail to get Alfonso and Rosario to disclose the truth, even when Garrido, suspecting that Alfonso is covering up for Rosario, questions him during court proceedings.
As a result, despite Domínguez and Garrido’s best efforts to prove Rosario and Alfonso’s innocence, the two of them are found guilty.
The case leaves them both exhausted, but Domínguez still promises Rosario that they will try to get a retrial, even though that is also going to be as difficult a journey as this one.
Also Read: Judge Luis Malvar: The Asunta Case character explained