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View Full Version : Dozens of cases expire today



NewsWhore
09-28-2009, 04:50 PM
Stacks of case files, evidence boxes and dusty papers will become recyclable after today. They are in the warehouses of the Prosecutor General, the courts and even the Supreme Court and they all belong to cases that were initially begun under the old Criminal Procedure Code. The deadline for terminating or closing the cases is today, but there are some cases dating back 10, 15 or even 18 years in which lack of interest or the disappearance or death of some of those involved have prevented completion of the process.
Supreme Court chief justice Jorge Subero Isa told reporters from Listin Diario that today the full court would consider requests on the cases subject to these cut-off dates from lower court judges.
When the new Penal Process Code was established, the law called for a five-year period for terminating cases initiated under the outgoing Criminal Procedure Code. Subero Isa said that in reality there were not that many cases pending a final decision, and the full body of the Supreme Court would take them under consideration.
The District Attorney for the National District, Alejandro Moscoso Segarra, said that his staff had made up a list of the cases that were due to lapse and pointed out that there were not that many, adding that some of them were of little importance. He indicated that some 52 cases were under consideration, and that there were 593 cases involving people considered to be in contempt of court for not showing up for the case. In these cases the contempt charge will be delayed until the justice department can present the accused before the judge responsible for hearing the case.
He did say that one of the more famous cases, the case of malpractice against Dr. Edgar Contreras for the death of reporter Isabel Vargas, would not expire because the courts had begun the final deliberations on the case.

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