Defendants in Marielle Franco Case Get Jury Trial, Judge Decides

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The two charged with the murder of Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes will be tried by the Jury Court, decided Judge Gustavo Kalil of the 4th Criminal Court on Tuesday, March 10th.

The retired State Police officer Ronnie Lessa and former PM Élcio Queiroz will be tried for the double homicide and attempted murder of a former assistant to Marielle who was in the car at the time of the crime.

The city councilor was murdered inside the car in the Estácio neighborhood (downtown Rio) at around 9:30 PM on March 14th, 2018. Her vehicle was attacked by gunfire while she was returning from a meeting with black women in Lapa, also downtown, approximately 4 km from there.

Marielle was in the back seat of a white Chevrolet Agile with her assistant, who suffered minor injuries. In the front was her driver, Anderson, 39, who also died.

The criminals’ car paired up with the vehicle in which Marielle was traveling, on Joaquim Palhares street, near Estácio subway station. After shooting, they fled without stealing anything.

Kalil decided to keep the two defendants in custody but did not rule on the Rio de Janeiro Prosecutor’s Office’s request to keep them in separate facilities. The magistrate wrote that he would consider the request at a later time.

The defendants have been held in pre-trial detention at the Porto Velho federal penitentiary in Rondônia since May last year. The request to separate the defendants also depends on the agreement of the magistrate in the Porto Velho penitentiary. In addition to the facility in which they are imprisoned, there are four other federal prisons in the country.

Ronnie and Élcio have denied any involvement in the deaths of Marielle and Anderson in their depositions – the former is charged with shooting the victims and the latter with driving the car used in the crime. The two said they were watching a Flamengo game on TV in a bar at the time of the crime.

The Civil Police are still investigating, under court-ordered secrecy, the possible existence of principals behind the crime.

The Jury Court judges only crimes where life is taken: murder, femicide, infanticide, abortion and aiding, inducing and instigating suicide.

In such instances, the verdict is handed down by a group of six jurors chosen from among the population, and the trial is conducted by a judge. In all other criminal cases in Brazil, the judge is the trier of fact.

Source: Folhapress