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The death of lawyer Javier Humberto Ordoñez, following a police procedure in western Bogotá, generated outrage and rejection in broad sectors of the country. What follows in the investigation has raised several questions.
(Also read: Prosecutor’s Office prioritized investigation for the death of a lawyer in Bogotá)
Who will investigate the facts?
Initially, the Prosecutor’s Office appointed a group of investigators from the CTI to carry out urgent actions, such as the collection of evidence, statements, and obtaining the opinion of Legal Medicine. However, the Military Criminal Justice could request the jurisdiction of the investigation considering that the events surrounding the lawyer’s death are associated with an act of the service. Faced with this situation, it would be the Superior Council of the Judiciary that defines who will investigate the events.
Lawyers consulted indicate that the recent antecedent of the case for the death of the young Dilan Cruz, could lead to think that the case would go to the Military Criminal Justice.
Spokesmen for that jurisdiction qualified as appropriate that the Prosecutor’s Office carry out urgent actions and that after having the first results, such as the autopsy of the lawyer’s body, a hypothesis about the facts would have to be raised.
That hypothesis, the sources said, will be the starting point to establish who should continue with the criminal process against those in uniform. The investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office does not prevent the military investigating judges from making their initial assessment of the facts.
What crimes could they face?
Experts consulted indicated that although it is up to the investigators to define what crime is consistent with the events recorded in western Bogotá, initially It could be a pre-intentional homicide, since in principle there would be no evidence that the uniformed men had the intention of causing the lawyer’s death. If it were found that, for any reason, there was an intention to kill him, they would answer for aggravated homicide.
Why isn’t there talking about a murder?
Lawyers consulted indicated that this term was no longer used years ago and would legally translate into what is now known as aggravated homicide. Only when the investigators of the case typify the crime could it be indicated whether it was an aggravated homicide or a pre-intentional one. The consulted criminal lawyers indicated that although the effect of the police action was the same, that is, the death of a person, this qualification is important because it defines the seriousness of the conduct and therefore the penalty to be imposed.
(We suggest you read: ‘Police abuse is unacceptable’: Claudia López)
Are there crimes of excessive force or police abuse?
In the penal code, this conduct is not typified, so it is not possible to impute charges in that sense. However, if they can, these situations could be taken into account by the investigators and the judge of the case to aggravate the crime to be charged and therefore increase the penalty to be imposed.
Likewise, the assessment of the procedure may be taken into account in the disciplinary investigations carried out by the General Inspection of the Police, or the Attorney General’s Office if the latter decides to use its power to assume jurisdiction over specific cases.
JUSTICE
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