After eight years and ten months, the popular jury of four people accused of the fire at the Kiss nightclub, in Santa Maria (RS), on January 27, 2013 begins this Wednesday (1).
Mauro Hoffmann and Elissandro Spohr (owners of the establishment), Marcelo de Jesus, vocalist of the band Gurizada Fandangueira, and producer Luciano Bonilha, responsible for the fireworks presentation, are responsible for the death of 242 people and for 636 attempted murders with eventual intent, when takes the risk of killing.
Among the reasons for the delay is the change in the city of the trial – the defenses of three of the four defendants were transferred to Porto Alegre due to lack of security and possible partiality.
The Public Ministry tried to reverse the decision, without success. To avoid having two juries, prosecutors then asked that the fourth accused also be tried in the capital.
“There were a lot of people to be questioned and in fact it was necessary, a lot of skills to be carried out. So there is a very complex instruction that takes time. Other than that, all the appeal incidents, this process was and returned to the Court and Brasília several times”, explains the president of the Communication Council of the Rio Grande do Sul Court of Justice (TJRS), Antônio Vinicius da Silveira, to CNN.
The move mobilized the Association of Families of Victims and Survivors of the Tragedy of Santa Maria (AVTSM), as many were unable to travel and live in Porto Alegre.
“We have some institutions that will give us some accommodation for the duration of the jury and also apartments, rooms offered by the population so that family members can stay during this period”, says Flávio Silva, father of one of the victims.
The case should have the longest trial in the history of the gaucho judiciary: defense and prosecution estimate a duration of 15 days. 14 victims, 19 witnesses, in addition to the defendants will be heard. Witnesses must be isolated until the day of the deposition, while jurors must be incommunicado throughout the entire jury period.
The Sentence Council will be formed by seven people from civil society, all residents of the state capital. In order for them to have an idea of the physical structure of the nightclub, the Public Ministry will use a device that simulates the interior of the nightclub.
The judge in the case, Orlando Faccini Neto, guarantees that the trial will take place in three rounds and on weekends.
“This is a much more difficult case than any lawmaker anticipated when they established the jury trial in the 1940s, and therefore some minor adjustments are needed,” he says.
Prosecutor David Medina talks about the charges against the four. “They created an unsafe environment, which only they knew was unsafe in such a way, placing a fire, in an unsuitable environment for fire, and a decisive factor: overcrowding. They were earning a lot of money that night and they had an obligation to take care of these people.”
As it is not possible to add the sentences according to the number of victims, the prosecutors’ expectation is that the defendants will be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison. Currently, they respond in freedom.
In a note sent to CNN, the defense of producer Luciano Bonilha said he would demonstrate the innocence of the client, who “is also a victim of the Kiss nightclub.”
Elissandro Spohr’s defense lamented the fact that only four defendants were being prosecuted, despite 28 people having been indicted by the Civil Police. The defense of Mauro Hoffmann, the other owner of the club, said the accusation does not hold up and that it was “an arrangement created by the Public Ministry”.
Marcelo de Jesus’ lawyers chose not to speak out.
Reference: CNN Brasil
