Hearing for sick jailed judge adjourned

A    hearing   at which jailed ex-supreme court judge Alejandro Moncada Luna, was to make his latest  attempt to be moved from his cell in El Renacer prison to house arrest has been adjourned  to August 3.

The suspension was requested by  Moncada Luna’s attorney Ramiro Jarvis who said he needed more time to gather the medical evaluations supporting the request for home detention.

The Wednesday, July 12 hearing was held before James Corró, in the offices of the accusatory penal system (SPA) of the First Judicial District, in Plaza Ágora. The hearing was conducted ex officio, after The National Assembly forwarded  the documentation when it withdrew from the case.

Jarvis said he was notified of Wednesday’s hearing just a day earlier, so he did not have up-to-date evidence of his client’s condition.

At the hearing, the clerk of the court informed that the Directorate of the Penitentiary System reported that Moncada Luna would not attend the hearing, “because he felt bad.”

On several occasions, Jarvis has requested a measure of house arrest, before the National Assembly, as it was this body that sentenced Moncada Luna 60 months in prison for unjustified  enrichment and falsified public documents, on March 5, 2015.

On May 6, this year  the National Assembly’s Court of Judges of Compliance  made up of three Members – refused to accept an application for Domiciliary deposit in favor of the ex-judge. occasion, the Deputies Rony Araúz, Crescencia Prado and Jorge Iván Arrocha – as compliance judges

– considered that the Assembly could not hear Moncada Luna’s petition, as he had been dismissed from the position of magistrate.

The Constitution states that magistrates are investigated by the deputies Of the Assembly and vice versa.

The defense of Moncada Luna has requested a measure of domiciliary deposit after claiming he

suffers from chronic hypertension, physical and mental deterioration and frequent pain in the chest.

Moncada Luna was investigated, convicted and removed from office after an investigation by La Prensa found that, while a judge  he  acquired two luxurious apartments in Coco del Mar, which together Have a value of $ 1.7 million. One of the homes  was bought with  cash. In his affidavit of assets, Moncada Luna reported that his only possessions were a Toyota van and a Rolex brand watch. He did not declare bank accounts, or other sources of income.