Currently representing a setback for the legal actions taken by the Public Prosecution Office, a problem with the translation of two key documentary evidence by the court translator, in relation to the accusation against six involved in bribery of Odebrecht, prevented this entity from incorporating them before. Judges of the First Collegiate Court of the National District.
Its value is a major category for prosecutors, as it sought through these to prove its accusation against the group of accused.
The court, presided over by Giselle Mendez and made up of Tania Yunus and Giselle Naranjo, made the decision after partially accepting the proposal made by the defense of Andres Bautista and Conrado Petaluga, joined by Angel Rondon, Victor Diaz Roi, Tommy Gallan and. Roberto Rodriguez requests that these tests not be combined.
Court arguments
The judges unanimously deemed the documents constituting evidence 1; 1.1; And 1.2, from the Public Prosecution Office, in Portuguese, and because of this unique feature it is not possible to enter the trial which must be taken into account, except for those that have been translated into Spanish.
“We have verified that there are documents in Spanish and documents in a foreign language, so we will only accept the trial of those in Spanish,” said the president of the court, who looked at the absence of the court interpreter. Any document in Portuguese should be excluded. “
Two main tests
These two evidence include the case in which the Brazilian multinational pleaded guilty to paying bribes in the country, from 2001 to 2014, and the leniency agreement between the Minister General of Brazil, the US Department of Justice, and the Swiss Attorney General. Office. Headquarters. center. However, the judges will allow the Public Prosecution office to incorporate evidence 1.3 into the discussion; 1.4; 1.5 and 1.6, to determine whether the court appreciates the convictions granted by Marcus Vasconcelos Cruz and other collaborations.
Likewise, the court suspended the substantive trial session today, Tuesday, at 9:00 am, to continue the presentation of documentary evidence by the accused.
The content of the tests
Tests 1; 1.1; 1.2, associated with the six accused in this process, have detailed a letter to Jean Alan Rodriguez containing the pleading agreement between the USA and the Department of Justice, the Brazilian leniency agreement, and Marcus Vanconcelos Cruz’s statements, along with their statements of support.
According to the evidentiary allegations that have been substantiated in the indictment, with evidence number one, the Public Prosecution Office intends to prove this through the leniency agreement between the Public Ministry of Brazil, the US Department of Justice, and the Swiss Attorney General’s office, Constructora Norberto, Odebrecht admitted that during the period from 2001 to 2014 He made payments in various countries, including the Dominican Republic, through intermediaries and government officials, in order to facilitate or guarantee the award of some contracts for the construction of infrastructure.
Defense speaks
He called to stop.
Attorney Jose Miguel Ménier, defender of Angel Rondon, asked attorney Myriam Germain Brito to “stop this accusation,” considering it constituting a “Dominican justice circus”
Minier reiterated his suggestion that the prosecutors discontinue their charges, thus, the Odebrecht case trial be concluded.
The Diaz Roi affair
For his part, Miguel Valerio, the lawyer for Diaz Roi, considered that once the leniency agreement was excluded because it was in Portuguese, the file of convictions of the executives of the award-winning Odebrecht company was also excluded.