Spanish
The Attorney General's Office of the Republic is investigating the owner of the Jet Set nightclub, Antonio Espaillat López, and his sister, Maribel Espaillat, for the crime of involuntary manslaughter, whom it arrested on the afternoon of this Thursday.
The arrest occurred after both were questioned by the head of the General Prosecution Directorate of the Public Ministry, the deputy prosecutor Wilson Camacho.
Authorities claim that the nightclub owners showed "immense irresponsibility and negligence" by failing to carry out a physical intervention that would have prevented the roof of the entertainment center from collapsing, causing 236 deaths and more than 180 injuries on April 8th.
Based on information from the Public Ministry, we wanted to investigate: What does the Penal Code establish regarding involuntary manslaughter?
According to Art. 319 of the aforementioned regulations: “Whoever, through clumsiness, imprudence, inadvertence, negligence or failure to observe the regulations, commits involuntary manslaughter, or is an involuntary cause thereof, shall be punished with correctional imprisonment of three months to two years, and a fine of twenty-five to one hundred pesos”.
While article 320 establishes that, if recklessness or lack of precaution has only caused blows or injuries, the imprisonment will be from six days to two months, and the fine, from ten to fifty pesos, or one of these two penalties only.
Although these penalties seem light, given an event with such tragic consequences, the Public Prosecutor's Office could consider aggravating factors or even other complementary criminal offenses. In addition, the accused could face lawsuits for civil liability for damages, to compensate the victims and their families.
It should be noted that the fines provided for in the Penal Code date back to the 19th century and are now symbolic, which has led to calls for a reform of the law to update the penalties to the current reality.
