judicial

Prosecutors to call shots in Delgado case

Legal experts predict that the tactics used by Delgado’s defense will largely depend on the prosecution’s actions.

Statutes of limitations are still somewhat vague in Panamanian law.

la prensa

arguments: Daniel Delgado Diamante’s defense team will only be able to introduce the “prescription of the criminal proceeding” argument if prosecutors prove that the case was never heard in court.1111663

Statutes of limitations on criminal proceedings and sentences “are not clearly defined in Panamanian law,” according to attorney Jorge Molina, commenting on the potential obstacles facing Daniel Delgado Diamante’s defense team, which has suggested that the murder accusations could be dismissed because of the 38-year time lapse.

Though former Second Court of Justice magistrate Donatilo Ballesteros dismissed the suggestion that Delgado’s case would have the option of being thrown out because it was never subjected to a criminal investigation, Molina said the first issue that needs clarification is to verify whether the case was indeed tried and dismissed, since the law proscribes trying someone twice for the same offense.

Additionally, Molina indicated that Delgado’s defense would not be able to introduce the “prescription of criminal proceeding” if public prosecutors can indeed prove that the case was never heard in court.

Beyond those two clear cut scenarios, Molina explained that the “prescription,” or statutes of limitation arguments, are still treated with ambiguity in the Supreme Court. The late magistrate César Pereira Burgos issued a ruling in 2001 making clear that the violations committed during the dictatorship considered “crimes against humanity” could not prescribed.

Judge Esmeralda de Troitiño, a member of the Criminal Division, however, ruled that crimes could not be judged “imprescriptible” because otherwise that could open up a lifetime of persecution against the accused.

“The defense team[of Daniel Delgado Diamante] will depend on how public prosecutors act,” said Molina. “If they don’t open the case, the lawyers won’t introduce anything, but if tomorrow they make charges against the minister, then I think they will invoke the “prescription of criminal proceedings,” which doesn’t necessarily recognize the crime committed as punishable.”