Minister Rosa Weber, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted to reject an appeal by Ronnie Lessa’s defense so that the accused of murdering councilor Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes would not be taken to a popular jury.
The crime was committed four years ago, on March 14, 2018. Lessa, who is a retired sergeant of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro, was arrested a year after the action, in March 2019.
The appeal is under analysis in the virtual plenary of the First Class. In this space, there is no discussion, only the presentation of votes. If any minister asks for a view (more time for analysis), the trial is suspended. If there is a request for prominence, the matter is taken to the physical court of the Court. Ministers have until August 26 to present votes.
In his vote, Weber argued that the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence considers it unfeasible to use the HC as a substitute for appeal.
For the minister, the appeal under analysis did not present elements capable of modifying the understanding of the previous decision.
On June 14, the minister rejected the Habeas Corpus (HC) requested by the defense of Ronnie Lessa. The defense then appealed. At the end of June, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) spoke out against the appeal.
The indictment, determining the trial of the accused by the jury court, considered three qualifiers of the Penal Code for the case: “a dishonest reason”, “another means that made it difficult to defend the victim” and “to ensure impunity for another crime”. .
The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) had unanimously denied, in May, the appeal requested by the defense. In order to ask the HC to the Supreme, Lessa’s lawyers claimed “invalidity of the reasoning of the indictment decision in relation to the qualifiers” and absence of the reason for the crime in the records.
Source: CNN Brasil
