January, key month in proceedings against Javier Duarte: could face up to 3 different trials

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Animal Politico
                
                    
By Arturo Angel

January is a key month in the trials for alleged acts of corruption that follow the ex-governor Javier Duarte. The first of these is the deadline a federal judge gave the PGR to complete its investigation of money laundering and organized crime before going to trial, and the other, two initial hearings in Mexico City courts where the Prosecutor's Office of Veracruz will charge for new crimes.

If all the cases are successful, at the end of the month the ex-governor of Veracruz could have up to three open trials.

So far, Duarte remains a prisoner as a preventative measure in the observation area of the Reclusorio Preventivo Norte [prison], where he arrived last July, extradited from Guatemala.

His defense tried in recent months, without success, to counteract the accusations at the federal level that he was already charged with. What happened instead was a delay of the two trials brought by the Prosecutor's Office of Veracruz, which will eventually be served by judges in Mexico City.

The period of Javier Duarte's detention has so far gone without major incidents, with the exception of a "hunger strike" that he maintained intermittently for two weeks to denounce a supposed political persecution against him.

The following are the hearings that await Duarte at both the federal and local levels.

The case of the PGR: A Pre-trial Step

It is the most advanced trial so far against the former governor of Veracruz. On July 23, a federal control judge in the Reclusorio Norte [prison] considered that the evidence provided by the Attorney General's Office was sufficient to try Duarte for the crimes of money laundering and organized crime.

As marked by the new criminal prosecution process, the judge granted the PGR a period of six months to complete its investigation and to gather any evidence that was necessary prior to the eventual trial.

This deadline expires January 22, the date on which the so-called intermediate hearing will be held in which the PGR will show before the judge and before the defense the evidence with which it intends to prove the guilt of Duarte in the oral proceedings. In turn, the lawyers of the ex-governor, headed by the litigant Marco Antonio del Toro, will unveil the evidence they intend to take before the court to
undermine the accusations.

What will happen in the aforementioned hearing is that both parties, with the judge's support, will agree on what evidence they can take to avoid debate and lengthening of the oral trial (such as the fact that Duarte was governor of Veracruz from 2010 to 2016 or that Karime Macias is his wife).

In the same hearing, controversial evidence will be discussed and the judge will be the one that establishes if it is to be maintained or eliminated from the file.

There is a possibility that in the intermediate hearing the accused party (Duarte) will recognize his guilt in the crimes that he is charged with, thus avoiding going to the oral trial, which in turn could bring him the benefit of a reduced sentence. However, the defense has rejected that this is going to be the route that follows, at least for the moment.

If everything is in order, the controlling judge will consider the intermediate hearing closed and the file will pass to an Oral Trial Court composed of three new judges, who will hold the trial hearing.  How much time can pass between the intermediate hearing and the oral trial? It is variable and depends on the workloads in the Judiciary, but it is expected to be at least three months.

It should be remembered that the PGR accuses Javier Duarte of leading an alleged criminal network that through third parties managed to hide the origin of public resources that were originally extracted from the state coffers by payments to ghost companies, and that were later triangulated among fronts of other companies, to finally be invested in alleged legal operations.

This would have brought Duarte and his accomplices economic benefits that allowed them to build million dollar properties, as well as other expenses.

The two cases of the Prosecutor's Office of Veracruz: Barely in the initial phase

Javier Duarte was extradited from Guatemala to Mexico for the PGR case but also for two more arrest warrants that the Attorney General of Veracruz obtained against him, in which the ex-governor is charged with five crimes: abuse of authority, breach of a legal duty, embezzlement, influence and coalition of drug trade.

However, unlike the federal case, the Veracruz charges have not yet been able to turn into a trial.
The main reason for the delay in the two cases are the amparo claims that Duarte's defense ended up winning so the initial hearings will not be held before judges in Veracruz, but will be transferred to judges in Mexico City where he is in jail.

It will be in January, on dates yet to be defined, when the initial hearings of each of the two accusations will finally be held before local controlling judges in Mexico City. As it happened in the federal case last July, in those hearings the Prosecutor's Office of Veracruz will formulate its accusations and detail what their proof is. The judges, in each case, will determine if the evidence is sufficient to indict the former governor and open a further period of investigation.

What are the cases that the Prosecutor's Office of Veracruz charges Duarte with? One of them, settled in the file 38/2017 is related to an alleged fraud amounting to at least 220 million pesos.

According to the investigations, these resources were labeled for use in the State Water Commission but through an order signed by Duarte himself they were transferred to other accounts without being returned.

The other case settled in file 56/2017 corresponds to the alleged illegal use of a helicopter of the State Prosecutor's Office with which Javier Duarte escaped from Veracruz to the south of the country, after he was warned (illegally) that there was an arrest warrant against him. This happened two days after he had already requested leave of governor.

The judges who head both hearings must determine, in addition to the connection or not to the former governor's trial, the precautionary measures to be imposed on Duarte in cases where there is a charge. It should be noted that none of the crimes that the prosecutor's office of Veracruz charges Duarte with merits automatic remand, however, the prosecutors will ask the judge with the argument that the former governor already tried once to flee from justice and can do it again.

It should be noted that, until now, Duarte remains imprisoned solely because of the PGR's accusation against him.