The Attorney General's Office (PGR) defended to the Federal Supreme Court (STF), this Thursday (2), the reinstatement of the conviction of the four defendants in the Kiss nightclub jury.
The statement was made in an appeal filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) against the annulment of the trial. The case rapporteur is Minister Dias Toffoli.
For the PGR, the decision to cancel the jury must be reversed. The body understood that the nullities pointed out by the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul (TJ-RS) in the trial that condemned the four defendants must be rejected because they were cited outside the procedural deadline and because they did not cause harm to the defenses.
In the document, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic Cláudia Sampaio Marques said that the annulment of the trial violated the Constitution and was the result of a “mistaken interpretation” of the TJ-RS.
“It is imperative to recognize that the annulment of the trial of crimes that occurred more than a decade ago, which resulted in the tragic death of more than 240 people, after arduous work carried out by the Jury Court over ten days with strict observance of all constitutional precepts, notably those that enshrine due legal process, undeniably represented the unreasonable and extremely cruel renewal of the pain inflicted on those who survived the tragedy and on the families of the hundreds of fatal victims”, said Marques.
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 sentences ranging from 18 to 22 years in prison, in December 2021.
A CNN , Marcelo de Jesus' defense said he will await a decision from the STF. The reporter tries to contact the others.
Historic
The Kiss nightclub jury was annulled by the TJ-RS in August 2022. The defense of the four convicts 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 failures 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 trial questions.
With the annulment, the four left prison.
In September 2023, the Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) upheld the jury cancellation.
A second jury was scheduled for the end of February 2024, but was suspended by Minister Dias Toffoli, of the STF, in February this year, at the request of the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul.
For the magistrate, a second jury could lead to a different result than the first, “causing procedural turmoil”, as the decision is still pending analysis of the appeal against the annulment of the initial trial.
The fire at the concert hall in Santa Maria (RS), in January 2013, killed 242 people. Another 636 were injured.
Source: CNN Brasil
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