São Paulo Court of Justice upholds detention of twins accused of poisoning four people in SP and RJ
The São Paulo Court of Justice denied a habeas corpus petition and upheld the preventive detention of Ana Paula and Roberta Fernandes, accused of four murders by poisoning.
Detention of twins accused of poisoning upheld by SP Court of Justice
The São Paulo Court of Justice (TJ-SP) upheld the preventive detention of Ana Paula and Roberta Cristina Veloso Fernandes, twin sisters accused of killing four people through poisoning in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The decision, dated 25 September, denies the habeas corpus petition filed by the defendants' legal counsel, as reported by veja.abril.com.br.
The case rapporteur, judge Otavio de Almeida Toledo, grounded the denial by stating that "despite the arguments of the petitioner, there is no evidence at this procedural moment of unlawful constraint or disregard for constitutional and procedural guarantees capable of warranting the granting of the interim relief request, reserved for cases of flagrant illegality".
The two sisters have been held in preventive detention since last year.
Defence argues absence of grounds for preventive detention
The defendants' legal counsel argued in the habeas corpus petition that there are insufficient grounds to justify the continuation of preventive detention. The lawyers contended that no current behaviour on the part of the sisters has been demonstrated capable of posing a risk to public order, criminal proceedings or the application of criminal law. The possibility of interference with witnesses, according to the defence, was asserted in an abstract manner without concrete support. The lawyer requested the conversion of the detentions into alternative precautionary measures.
In the week preceding the SP Court of Justice decision, on 22 September, the first instance court in Guarulhos—a city in the Greater São Paulo area—also reviewed the preventive detention requests, as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure. The judge of the Jury Court found no reason to release the defendants, emphasising "the concrete gravity of the conduct alleged against them, the existence of proof of the material facts and sufficient indications of authorship" and the risk of interference with the witnesses who are to participate in the second phase of the Jury Trial.
Judge Toledo also noted that in the decision to send the case to trial—which sent the twins to be judged by a jury—it was established that the freedom of the defendants "could compromise the second phase of the Jury trial procedure, as they would know the locations where the witnesses could be found". The judge added that the sisters would have attempted to hinder the investigations by eliminating evidence and attributing the facts to innocent third parties, and that they lack solid ties to the district of the crime, with reports of absence of a fixed residence and frequent circulation through different cities.
Four victims in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
According to the Public Prosecutor's accusation, the first crime would have occurred in January of last year, on Rua São Gabriel, in the Vila Renata neighbourhood, in Guarulhos. The prosecution alleges that Roberta would have assisted in her sister Ana Paula administering lethal substances to Marcelo Hari Fonseca, "acting with base motivation, aware of the insidious use of poison and the use of a means that hampered the victim's defence".
Between 10 and 11 April, on Rua Guaratuba, in the Bom Clima neighbourhood, also in Guarulhos, Roberta would have assisted Ana Paula in poisoning Maria Aparecida Rodrigues, according to the records.
On 26 April, in the Parque Uruguaiana neighbourhood, in Duque de Caxias (RJ), the Public Prosecutor maintains that Roberta, "in consideration of a promise of reward", would have cooperated so that her sister administered lethal substance to Neil Correa da Silva, then aged 65.
The fourth murder would have occurred on 23 May, on Avenida Rangel Pestana, in the Brás neighbourhood, in the São Paulo capital. The victim was identified as Hayder Mhazres, of Tunisian origin. The prosecution describes conduct analogous to the earlier cases: insidious use of poison and a means that hampered the victim's defence.
Accused reject allegations
Ana Paula submitted a response to the accusation, contending that the prosecution's indictment is based on "partial indications and imprecise allegations gathered in the inquisitorial phase, without the necessary robustness to sustain the criminal action". The defence also argued that the Public Prosecutor attributes to the defendant an excessive accumulation of aggravating factors—base motivation, in consideration of reward, poison and means that hampered the defence—which would constitute "prosecutorial excess".
Roberta Cristina also submitted a response to the accusation and preliminarily requested the revocation of preventive detention. On the merits, she sought summary acquittal on the grounds of absence of minimum indications of authorship. The defence argued that the indictment relies on "anaemic suppositions" and telephone conversations treated as evidence of wilful participation, classifying as "mere probability assessment" the thesis that Roberta would have encouraged or induced Ana Paula. The defence considered the aggravating factors flimsy and requested their dismissal.
Source: Google News BR — Crime