NewsWhore
03-25-2009, 06:50 PM
The Second Penal Chamber of the National District Appeals Court has ordered another trial for the wife of former military captain Quirino Paulino, Belkis Elizabeth Ubri Medrano and former associate Ernesto Guevara Diaz a.k.a. "Maconi. The court also dropped all charges against Pedro Julio (Pepe) Goico, who had been accused of involvement in Paulino's drug ring. The Court disregarded a request by the Public Ministry not to go ahead with a second trial on the basis that it was "illogical and anti-judicial." The Court's decision also disregarded an agreement made by the State Prosecutors, on behalf of Ubri, and the New York District Attorney's office, which would have allowed Ubri to leave the DR without serving jail time and enter a protection program in the US.
Hoy says that the court's rejection was partly due to the fact that the request document was "a simple piece of paper with no judicial value," and that the Court didn't even receive the original, notarized copies. However, the Court of Appeals did order that Ubri's next trial should be held in a different court from the one that emitted the original sentence.
Lawyer Vinicio Castillo Seman said that the decision threatens the agreement the Dominican judiciary signed with the New York City Southern District Court where the case against former military captain Quirino Paulino is being heard. "The extradition of Quirino's powerful connections in the country, which depended on the fulfillment of the agreements with the US prosecutors, have now evidently been blocked with this court decision, which calls for profound reflection," says Castillo Seman.
As part of the agreement, the government agreed to allow several of Quirino's relatives to leave the country in return for his sharing information on key players in the drug trafficking ring. The agreement sought to dismantle one of the most powerful drug dealing rings in the DR, and once the relatives had traveled to the US what was pending was the extradition of key players, prompting widespread speculation that these included members of the Dominican military and government hierarchies.
The Appeals Court judges in the Belkis Ubri case are Ramon Horacio Gonzalez, Pedro Antonio Sanchez and Luis Rosa, who ordered a re-trial for Ubri and Ernesto Guevara Diaz (Maconi), who is requested in extradition by the US.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
Hoy says that the court's rejection was partly due to the fact that the request document was "a simple piece of paper with no judicial value," and that the Court didn't even receive the original, notarized copies. However, the Court of Appeals did order that Ubri's next trial should be held in a different court from the one that emitted the original sentence.
Lawyer Vinicio Castillo Seman said that the decision threatens the agreement the Dominican judiciary signed with the New York City Southern District Court where the case against former military captain Quirino Paulino is being heard. "The extradition of Quirino's powerful connections in the country, which depended on the fulfillment of the agreements with the US prosecutors, have now evidently been blocked with this court decision, which calls for profound reflection," says Castillo Seman.
As part of the agreement, the government agreed to allow several of Quirino's relatives to leave the country in return for his sharing information on key players in the drug trafficking ring. The agreement sought to dismantle one of the most powerful drug dealing rings in the DR, and once the relatives had traveled to the US what was pending was the extradition of key players, prompting widespread speculation that these included members of the Dominican military and government hierarchies.
The Appeals Court judges in the Belkis Ubri case are Ramon Horacio Gonzalez, Pedro Antonio Sanchez and Luis Rosa, who ordered a re-trial for Ubri and Ernesto Guevara Diaz (Maconi), who is requested in extradition by the US.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)