Court to name judge in Martinelli acquittal appeal

The judicial office of the Accusatory Penal System (SPA) of the First Judicial District sent to the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, the appeals and the warning of unconstitutionality filed against the decision of the Trial Court to acquit former President Ricardo Martinelli for the case of punctures.

Nicomedes Castillo, the lawyer for Balbina Herrera, one of the victims, said that they are waiting to know which magistrate will be responsible for examining the appeals. In general, the distribution of files in the Court takes place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The Criminal Chamber of the Court is made up of María Eugenia López Arias (president), José Ayú Prado, and Maribel Cornejo. In the past, Judge Maribel Cornejo was the rapporteur for appeals related to the case.

On December 16, Castillo filed a cassation appeal and a warning of unconstitutionality against the ruling of the Trial Court of November 9 that acquitted Martinelli of the crimes of interception of communications and monitoring, persecution, and surveillance without judicial authorization.

The objective
The appeal seeks to annul the last paragraph of article 179 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which establishes that “when a new trial is ordered against the accused who has already been acquitted by the contested judgment, and as a result of this new trial, he is acquitted, said sentence is not subject to any appeal ”.