Supreme Court confirms 20 years' imprisonment for prefect over Christopher Rego's murder
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction against Corporal Pablo Miguel Brites for shooting Christopher Rego in 2018. The defence teams attempted to overturn the ruling without success.
Supreme Court rejects appeals and upholds 20-year sentence for prefect who killed Christopher Rego
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation confirmed on 25 September the 20-year prison sentence imposed on Corporal of the Argentine Naval Prefecture Pablo Miguel Brites for the homicide of Christopher Rego, who was shot in the back after evading a traffic control in Buenos Aires in August 2018, reported cadena3.com.
Judges Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti dismissed the appeals filed by the defence teams, on the understanding that the claims were not directed against sentences from the Superior Court of Justice of the City of Buenos Aires, in line with the precedents "Levinas" and "Marcelina". With that ruling, the convictions became final.
The early morning of 12 August 2018 in Barracas
The incident occurred at the intersection of Ancaste and Iguazú streets, on the boundary between the Buenos Aires neighbourhoods of Parque Patricios and Barracas. Christopher Rego was 26 years old and was the father of a 40-day-old baby. He was driving a recently acquired Peugeot Partner, for which he was not carrying the necessary documentation at the time.
Upon noticing the police checkpoint, Rego attempted to evade the operation. According to the prosecution, Brites positioned himself in front of the vehicle and aimed his service weapon. When the driver tried to avoid him, the prefect fired twice. One of the bullets passed through the seat and struck Rego in the back.
Collection of cartridge cases and cover-up
After the incident, the prefect's colleagues collected the spent cartridge cases from the scene, a circumstance that generated controversy during the investigation and subsequent trial.
Four officers were convicted for that conduct: Corporal Cristian López, Sailor Lucila Tamara Carrizo, Second Corporal Javier Eduardo Fernández and First Corporal Rubén Darío Viana. All received sentences for "doubly aggravated cover-up" and eight years' disqualification.
From life imprisonment to 20 years
In the oral trial, Brites was convicted in the first instance to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of "homicide doubly aggravated by its commission with a firearm and by abuse of his functions as a member of the security force". The other four defendants received four years' imprisonment at that stage for cover-up.
The National Criminal Cassation Court subsequently upheld the responsibility of all the accused, although it reduced the sentences. Brites went from life imprisonment to 20 years' imprisonment, whilst the sentences of the others were reduced to between three and three and a half years.
The defence teams brought their objections before the Supreme Court. The tribunal, signed by Rosatti, Rosenkrantz and Lorenzetti, dismissed the claims and upheld all the sentences as final, putting an end to judicial appeals in the case.
Source: Google News AR — Crime