In January of this year, Jhonier Leal He was captured and charged with the double homicide of his brother. mauritius leal and his mother Marleny Hernández, and had confessed to being the author of the crime, but last April he retracted the acceptance of charges, so the case, which was going to be closed with a pre-agreement, now advances to trial.
(Also read: Jhonier Leal attacked “with excessive cruelty”, says the Prosecutor’s Office in the accusation).
In this sense, this Friday, before the 55th criminal court in Bogotá, the indictment hearing for the crimes, which occurred on November 21, 2021, was scheduled. However, the judge was recused, so now the case must go to the Court Superior of Bogotá to resolve this appeal.
(You may be interested in: Ex-wife of Jhonier Leal says that in court he will prove his innocence).
According to the indictment that the Prosecutor’s Office had already sent, but which could not be read at this hearing, Jhonier was the last person to enter his brother’s house on November 21, and he stayed there until 11:15 a.m. am on Monday, November 22.
“It was established that Mr. Yhonier Rodolfo Leal Hernández had enough time to attack his mother Marleny Hernández Tabares with a knife in her room and cause instant death, and then move to the room of his brother Mauricio, where He puts him in a state of defenselessness, hitting him several times all over his body and face, intimidating him with the knife (pricks) in order to make him write and sign a letter that said ‘I love you, forgive me, I can’t take it anymore, my nephews (sic ) brother I leave everything, with all my love- Mauricio signs- forgive me mom 11 24’ “, says the indictment.
(More notes: Jhonier Leal is transferred to La Picota prison in Bogotá).
Around 10 in the morning this Friday, the diligence began, which Jhonier Leal attended from La Picota prison, virtually.
At the beginning, Élmer Montaña, lawyer for the victims in the case, stated that the 55th criminal judge of Bogotá was involved in a cause of impediment to hearing the indictment hearing since she had already heard about this case when the case was being verified. failed pre-agreement between the Prosecutor’s Office and Jhonierwhich was withdrawn by the prosecution body after Leal withdrew from accepting charges.
According to Montaña, the judge at that time already had access to the material evidence that the Prosecutor’s Office will now use in the accusation and subsequent trial, which is why she recused her. The lawyer Ana Julieth Velásquez, defender of Jhonier Leal, argued the same.
(We suggest you read: ‘I do not accept the charges’: Jhonier retracts for the murder of Mauricio Leal).
In response, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that, in its opinion, there is no cause for the judge to withdraw from the case; the representative of the Attorney General considered the same.
After analyzing the arguments, as well as the jurisprudence of high courts, the judge did not accept the challenge but said that the process should be sent to the functional superiorwhich in this case is the Superior Court of Bogotá, to decide on the challenge that was presented.
They denounce pressure on a witness
At the end of the proceedings, the representative of the Attorney General’s Office asked for the floor to point out that the victims’ lawyer María Paula Cardona told him that he was looking for one of the witnesses and victims of the case, Carlos García -Jhonier’s stepbrother-, Jhonier’s lawyer insistently asked him to speak with her, without the presence of his lawyers.
According to the prosecutor, this Thursday he received a letter in which Cardona told him that García “was contacted by Ana Julieth Velásquez, through a third party, to see him without his lawyers, and that they told him that ‘Jhonier tells him to give a reason, not to forget that Jhonier was his brother and he had to help him‘ “, he pointed.
In this regard, the judge clarified that since she is challenged, she cannot make any pronouncement until the Bogotá Court unleashes the challenge, but she recommended that the Attorney General’s Office accompany the person who made the complaint so that they raise it before the Attorney General’s Office and the National Commission. of Judicial Discipline, for the effect of the corresponding penal or disciplinary processes.
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