Portuguese court holds excluding witnesses is not a nullity if the judge remains convinced by other evidence.

The Supreme Court of Justice dismissed the appeal challenging a criminal sentence for alleged nullity due to the exclusion of specific witnesses. The appellant argued that omitting these witnesses violated the principle of free evaluation of evidence, while the defense contended the witnesses failed to influence the judge's conviction. The court ruled that excluding witnesses does not constitute a defect or nullity when the judge's conviction is based on other reliable evidence that sufficiently persuaded them.