The minister Dias Toffoli, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), overturned this Monday (2) the decisions that had annulled the jury in the Kiss Nightclub case .
Toffoli ordered the immediate return to prison of the four defendants convicted in the case.
The judge also ordered the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul (TJ-RS) to resume the trial of the defendants’ appeals against the conviction.
Toffoli’s decision responded to requests from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul, in appeals filed by the bodies.
The appeals challenged decisions by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and the TJ-RS, respectively.
Elissandro Sphor and Mauro Hoffmann, businessmen and former partners of the Kiss nightclub, and Marcelo de Jesus and Luciano Bonilha, members of the band Gurizada Fandangueira, had been sentenced to terms ranging from 18 to 22 years in prison, in December 2021.
The fire at the concert hall in Santa Maria (RS), in January 2013, killed 242 people. Another 636 were injured.
PHOTOS – Kiss Nightclub Demolition Completed
Understand
The jury’s nullification was based on nullities in relation to the progress of the process and the trial, pointed out by the defendants’ defenses.
Factors such as alleged irregularities in the drawing of jurors and a private meeting between the judge in the case and the jurors were considered.
For Toffoli, these nullities must be rejected. According to the minister, “there was no restriction on the full defense before the Jury Court, given the fact that the alleged irregularity occurred in the last draw held on 11/24/2021, and it is certain that among the 7 (seven) jurors who composed the Sentencing Council, none of them came from that last draw”.
The minister also understood that other nullities were cited outside the procedural deadline.
THE CNN tries to contact the defendants’ defense. The space remains open.
History
The Kiss nightclub jury was annulled by the TJ-RS in August 2022. The defense of the four convicted individuals pointed out nullities in relation to the progress of the process and the trial, which was recognized by the court.
Among the illegalities cited were flaws in the selection of jurors, the holding of a private meeting between the presiding judge of the jury and the jurors – without the participation of the defense or the Public Prosecutor’s Office –, in addition to irregularities in the preparation of the judgment questions.
With the annulment, the four left prison.
In September 2023, the Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) upheld the jury’s annulment.
A second jury trial was scheduled for the end of February 2024, but was suspended by Minister Dias Toffoli, of the STF, in February of this year, at the request of the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul.
For the judge, a second jury could lead to a different result than the first, “causing procedural turmoil”, since the decision is still pending the analysis of the appeal against the annulment of the initial trial.
This content was originally published in Boate Kiss: Toffoli overturns jury annulment and orders defendants’ arrest on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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