by Kelly Simmons and Ana Maria Ruiz-Brown
Allegations of serious deficiencies in the Chihuahua State Penal Code and Criminal Procedures laws have prompted a call for an overhaul during the month of April. The deficiencies were raised during several high profile criminal cases such as the case of Zacarias Benito Barragan who was apprehended on charges of robbery, with more than a dozen prior charges of kidnapping, rape and robbery. Barragan was ultimately freed after paying a fine. In another recent high profile case, a primary school teacher was apprehended on charges of sexually abusing several students. He was also freed after paying a fine. The public outcry and protest from parents and numerous citizen groups has fueled the effort to examine the Code and tighten loopholes to make sure those accused of serious crimes do not walk away by paying fines.
The Bar Association and College of Attorneys as well as the State Commission on Human Rights urged the State Legislature to immediately enact amendments to the State Penal Code in order to stop "aberrant justice" that favors criminals. Some legislators and lawyers accused PAN-ruled legislatures of creating the problems during past reform efforts. In mid-April the state President of the PAN countered this criticism by noting important improvements made by past legislatures, such as allowing the Public Prosecutor to issue an arrest warrant without a judge's order, and pointed out that just because the Penal Code needs reforming does not mean the problems are the PAN's fault.
Judge Flor Mireya Aguilar of the Seventh Criminal Court, who heard the case of Barragan stated the Penal Code is "erratic" in places and needs to be modified. In the Barragan case, she told a Diario de Juarez reporter, he had been accused of committing more than two dozen crimes but no one had been able to keep him in prison. As a judge, she is not allowed to consider the danger of an individual, except in sentencing. The only thing she is allowed to consider in the case is the crime and the "flagrancy" of the crime, which in this case was a robbery of 200 pesos from a dental worker. The sentence for such a crime is automatically a fine. The 15,800 peso fine levied, she stated, was very high for this type of crime and she had hoped he would not be able to pay it. Article 144 of the Penal Code restricts the circumstances under which an accused criminal can be arrested to those cases where the crime is "grave" and those in which the "Preliminary Investigation" division of the City (Averiguaciones Previas) officially orders it. In the Barragan case, none of the crimes had complied with the required "flagrancy" clause or had come with an arrest order from the Preliminary Investigation unit, according to Judge Aguilar.
Meanwhile lawyers in Chihuahua criticized the efforts of the Attorney General's office (Procuraduria de Justicia del Estado) to prosecute criminals, especially urgent cases, and their treatment of victims of sexual crimes. The President of the Bar and College of Attorneys has been asked to host a meeting in order to analyze the situation and its effect on victims of sexual crimes. Victims are being subjected to a new "violation" during the judicial process. The result is many perpetrators walking the streets because the entire process is "archaic" stated Salvador Urbina, a member of the Bar in an El Norte report.
On April 4th a Forum on the State Penal Code was convened to analyze necessary changes. In all more than 80 people, from lawyers to crime victims to officials of the Department of the Public Prosecutor and the Commission on Human Rights as well as both PRI and PAN state legislators, attended the event hosted by the Subprocurador of Justice in Juarez, Jorge Lopez Molinar. 36 proposals were offered to re-work the penal code and criminal procedures laws. Among the proposals presented were increasing the punishment in cases of serious crimes, such as rape, from the current 6 years to 10 years, and in the case of raping a child or disabled person, increase the sentence to 15 years from the current 6 years, as well as increasing the punishment for minors accused of serious crimes, and reducing "age of majority" for criminals to 16 years old. Another proposal was to restructure the criminal fines regulations, preventing the payment of fines in cases of serious offenses and requiring prison terms. Finally, one proposal included implementing a victims' rights program.
During the Forum, the citizens group, Committee to Fight Against Violence, (Comite de Lucha Contra la Violencia, COCILUVI) protested in front of the Municipal President's Building in order to pressure the PAN legislators to start working immediately on enacting the necessary changes to the laws.
Sources: Diario de Juarez, El Norte