A 180-degree turn sued for the death of stylist Mauricio Leal and his mother, Marleny Hernández. Bogota district criminal judge 55, while confirming the preliminary agreement between Jhonier Leal Hernández and the Prosecutor’s Office. Jjonier confessed to the crime but today he said He said he no longer admitted to the charges.
finished He argued that he received pressure and false offers to accept the charges.
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According to the judge, the Prosecution submitted 203 pieces of evidence in the preliminary agreement regarding Jhonier Leal’s liability in the crime. After it was confirmed that all parties had received the elements, the judge promised the interveners.
A few weeks ago, the lawyer of Jhonier Leal and Mauricio Leal’s brother Carlos Andrés García Hernández, who appeared as victims in the process, began to speak. “I do not see any objection of your court to the approval of the preliminary contract, that the rights of the parties have not been violated.‘ said the lawyer.
(We suggest: A preliminary agreement for double murder was signed between the Prosecutor’s Office and Jhonier Leal).
Helmer Montaña, who also represents the victims in the case, said they had expressed inconsistencies with the Prosecutor’s actions since the beginning of the trial.
For example, referring to the fact that the preliminary agreement did not state the fact that, as the Prosecutor’s Office revealed in the impeachment of the charges, Montaña said, “We have made clear injustices and investigative shortcomings that need to be corrected.” Jhonier forced his brother to take sleeping pills and then wrote a note saying he had inherited everything from him.before killing him.
This note was taken as a way to imply that Mauricio Leal’s death at the time was a suicide.
According to Montaña, the victims and Colombian society believe that Mauricio Leal was tortured and therefore demand that it be recorded in the preliminary agreement. The lawyer said, “The victims I represent will not accept the request for amnesty, which Jhonier and the Prosecutor’s Office accepted unilaterally because it is not based on reality. Amnesty cannot be enforced by decree.”
He added that this preliminary agreement is a “reward” for Jhonier, so they do not support this preliminary agreement, adding that the message of the Prosecutor’s Office with the agreement and the sentence recorded there “The more brutal the crimes, the greater the punishment.”
(More notes: Mauricio Leal: Who will buy your jewellery, artwork and luxury furniture?)
Olivia Reina Castillo, the attorney assigned to the case, said the sentence was not disproportionate or affected the rights of victims. “A much less disproportionate punishment was decided upon that could not be considered negligible or ridiculous,” she said.
Ana Julieth Velásquez, Jhonier Leal’s lawyer, said her son would stop pleading guilty.
He explained that he is a trusted attorney and that Leal would not be present until this moment in the process as he was previously a public defender.
The lawyer said that Jhonier told him that. forced to accept accusations, as in January of this year. He also said that, according to his client, he accepted the preliminary agreement because he was promised 18 years in prison, not the 27 years remaining in the final agreement.
(In context: Mauricio Leal: accounts defending Jhonier Leal after confession)
Asking the judge not to give legality to the preliminary agreement, the lawyer said, “My son will not apologize for something he did not do and a preliminary agreement that he imposed.”
He also requested that Leal be given procedural and constitutional guarantees and security for himself and his family. He also requested that he be given a security guarantee, He said he was a victim of threats. “Silence my voice as it is intended that I withdraw from the process. They will not silence my voice because my commitment as a lawyer is to seek the administration of justice.” He said his godson was also a victim.
“What this defense is looking for is to be able to prove the absence of liability in a case,” said Velásquez.
Next, the judge asked Jhonier whether the charges had been admitted in the preliminary agreement he had made, and if he had indeed agreed.
“I absolutely do not accept the allegations, I do not accept anything,” replied Jhonier Leal, adding that he was firmly determined to abandon the preliminary agreement because he was pressured. “I am innocent,” he said.
And he added that he decided to withdraw his pleadings after meeting with his new lawyer, who said he was innocent and did not charge him only.
He added that they said he saw that he would pay a prison sentence of more than 30 years, that he would receive a discount if he accepted, and that he could pay about 7 years in prison if he accepted after doing the math.
“I expect a fair and transparent trial with equal rights, I expect honest and impartial prosecutors who do not succumb to pressure to act because of public and media opinion,” Leal said.
On 20 May, the judge will announce his decision on whether the preliminary agreement is legal or not.
(We recommend reading: Mauricio Leal’s half-brother wants to get out of jail and inherit everything)
Leal has been held in the cells of the Attorney General’s Office in Bogotá since his arrest on January 14.
The death of celebrity stylist Mauricio Leal last November caused a stir, and initially his brother Jhonier spoke to the media to seek justice.
Following his arrest, Leal did not admit, in a homogeneous and sequential conflict, the crimes of murder aggravated by kinship due to a vulnerable and brutal situation; and in the heterogeneous material competition Concealment, alteration or destruction of material evidence.
(You may be interested in: How viable is Jhonier Leal’s strategy of seeking imputability?).
For example, regarding the alteration of evidence, the Prosecutor’s Office said at the indictment hearing that Mauricio Leal Hernández’s mobile phone was found to have been tampered with at the time the crime was already committed (post-mortem December between 11:45 pm). Sunday, November 21 and Monday, November 22 at 05:53).
He would also change the scene to show that his brother’s death was a suicide. “Jhonier Leal Hernández killed his mother, carried her to Mauricio’s room and placed him in it. I left the whole stage to make it look like suicide”, reported the case to the prosecutor. He even confirmed that Marleny and Mauricio were attacked with the same knife.
(More notes: The five tests that corner Jhonier Leal, accused of double murder).
Although he did not admit to the charges in principle, on the second day of the trial, Jhonier confessed to his crimes and later reached a preliminary agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office.
This preliminary agreement provides for 27.6 years in prison and a fine of 200 legal minimum wages per month. It is not stated in the contract that he will be deprived of his liberty in a private place, that is, he will be imprisoned.
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Source: Exame
