Life sentence upheld for driver in double murder of deputy Olivares in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Supreme Court of Justice ratified the life sentence against Juan Jesús Fernández for the murder of deputy Héctor Olivares and his adviser Miguel Yadón in front of Congress.
Supreme Court upholds life sentence for driver in double murder outside Congress
The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of the City of Buenos Aires confirmed on Thursday the life sentence of Juan Jesús Fernández for his participation in the murder of national deputy Héctor Olivares and his adviser Miguel Yadón. According to noticiasargentinas.com, the TSJ rejected the complaint filed by Fernández's defence against the National Chamber of Criminal and Correctional Review (CNCCC), thereby closing the last available ordinary appeal channel.
Fernández was convicted as a necessary accessory to the crime of aggravated homicide by means of treachery, repeated on two occasions. He was driving the vehicle from which Juan José Navarro Cádiz — his cousin — shot at the victims on 9 May 2019, at approximately 6:50, in the vicinity of Congress Square.
The attack outside Congress
Olivares and Yadón were taking morning walks in the surroundings of the compound when, as they passed by the car in which the attackers were waiting, Fernández lowered the window of the driver's seat. Through that opening, Navarro Cádiz opened fire on the two men.
Adviser Yadón received three bullet impacts to the neck, armpit and pelvis. Deputy Olivares was wounded in the abdomen and right arm, and died days later as a result of his injuries.
After the attack, both men got out of the vehicle and observed the scene. Navarro Cádiz walked away on foot in the direction of his home, whilst Fernández returned to the car, communicated with a family member and together they drove to a garage on Bartolomé Mitre Street at number 1400, where they left the Volkswagen Vento used in the crime.
The 2021 conviction and the death of the principal perpetrator
In September 2021, the Oral Court of Criminal and Correctional Matters of the Federal Capital (TOCC) No. 9 sentenced Fernández to the maximum penalty provided for by the Penal Code. In that same sentence, the court set a sentence of 45 years imprisonment for Navarro Cádiz, the principal perpetrator of the shots. Navarro Cádiz died in September 2023 whilst serving his sentence in Federal Penitentiary Complex II in Marcos Paz.
The defence arguments, rejected
Fernández's lawyers challenged two central points of the conviction: they questioned the application of the aggravating factor of treachery and raised the unconstitutionality of life imprisonment. In their submission, they argued that Fernández "was unaware of the intentions" of Navarro Cádiz at the moment of the attack.
The chief prosecutor of the City of Buenos Aires pointed out "insurmountable formal differences" in the defence's written submission and warned about "the failure to meet the requirement of technical self-sufficiency" in the presentation. The TSJ, in evaluating the motions, concluded that the defence "did not address the reasoning made by the National Chamber of Review nor demonstrated that the response to its motions was insufficient or unreasonable".
With this ruling, the life sentence imposed against Juan Jesús Fernández became final.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires