Spanish
San Cristobal.- The Public Ministry (MP) filed an appeal for cassation before the Supreme Court of Justice against the decision of the Second Chamber of the Criminal Court of the Court of Appeal of San Cristobal, which reduced the sentence imposed on Colonel César Maríñez Lora from 20 to 10 years, found guilty of the shooting death of the Christian couple Elisa Muñoz Marte and Joel Eusebio Díaz Ferrer, which occurred in March 2021 in Villa Altagracia.
The resource was presented by the Attorney General of the Court of Appeal, Fátima Sánchez Guzmán, and the chief prosecutor of Villa Altagracia, Dalma Díaz, who filed the file in the court secretariat. The legal action seeks the annulment of the appeal sentence and the reinstatement of the original 20-year prison sentence.
Read more: Impose 20 years in prison on colonel and private for death of evangelical couple
The Public Ministry argues that the decision of the appeals court does not conform to the law and misrepresents the seriousness of the events that occurred. In addition to Maríñez Lora, the appeal was also filed against the accused Guillermo Rosario Melo, Emil Alexander Rincón Marte, Víctorino Reyes Navarro, Domingo Perdomo Reyes, Ángel de los Santos, Anthony Castro Pérez, Juan Samuel Ogando Solís and Norquis Rodríguez Jiménez.
The case caused national shock after it was learned that the murdered couple was being pursued by mistake when returning from a religious activity, and was riddled with bullets by police officers. Since then, family members and social sectors have demanded justice and an exemplary sentence.
