A man spent 4 months in jail in Huachalalume, being innocent. The Public Ministry decided not to persevere and not to accuse due to a lack of serious records that would demonstrate his presumed responsibility, while the expert reports confirmed his version of the events.
120 days was in preventive detention in La Serena Claudio González, 63 years old and with no criminal record, for three crimes of which he was innocent.
The man was accused of less serious injuries, rape and sexual abuse, allegedly committed on March 31.
However, the Public Ministry informed the Guarantee Court of its decision not to persevere in the case, because it did not have sufficient records to charge him.
Since Monday, August 1, he has been free, but not before going through a difficult process inside the penitentiary center of Huachalalume, for crimes he did not commit.
Today, he seeks to leave behind what he lived through, and that he could only reverse through the work of his defense, which requested expertise that was key to proving his innocence.
The man was charged with allegedly having entered a home located in a Cité de calle Valparaíso, in Las Compañías, reported by a woman for touching and injuries.
At his detention check, the public criminal defender of La Serena, Juan Pablo González, He opposed the ordering of preventive detention, due to lack of evidence.
However, the court accepted the request of the Public Ministry and sent him to prison, according to reports. The day.
Despite the appeal filed by their lawyer in the Court of Appeals, they suffered a second blow when the resolution was ratified.
Innocent spent 4 months in prison in La Serena
To prove that he was innocent, the defender requested that psychological, social and criminal investigation reports be carried out that could clarify the case.
Once the reports were finalized, they were conclusive. There were no personality changes in the accused and his version of events was reaffirmed.
The defendant had gone with a friend to a brothel, where an argument ensued. He even sustained injuries in a fight with subjects who arrived at the scene.
The residents called the Carabineros and when they arrived, he was accused of assault and sexual abuse.
“Finally, on August 1, the Prosecutor’s Office asked the court for a hearing to communicate its decision not to persevere in this procedure because it did not gather background to accuse the accused, who was released that same day,” said the defender.
Number of innocents in preventive detention increases, according to DPP
The case of Claudio González has been repeated in the Coquimbo region and is even increasing.
According to figures from the Public Criminal Defender (DPP)so far this year, a total of 46 people who went through preventive detention have been released for similar situations.
The latter, either because his innocence was proven in court or the Public Ministry decided not to persevere in the absence of a serious record.
The rise is marked. In fact, those in this first half of the year are more cases than the 42 that were registered in all of 2021.
Ombudsman and case of innocents: “There is an excessive use of preventive detention”
Yasna Rojas, Head of Studies of the regional DPP, He acknowledged that “it is a constant concern.”
In fact, he crossed the data with analyzes that have been done since the Undersecretary of Justice, that show that in the last 12 years, while preventive prisons have been on the rise (16.1%), the number of convicts has decreased.
“We are having more and more people in prison without being convicted and the number of people convicted has been going down,” he said.
“If one translates that into the fact that the principle of presumption of innocence is in the law, a contradiction arises,” he pointed out.
Likewise, although it emphasizes that there are serious crimes, which affect the integrity of people and impact public opinion, it affirms that these “must be investigated and sentenced accordingly to those who are responsible.”
However, it emphasizes that in the Ombudsman’s opinion “there is an excessive use of pre-trial detention.”
“You have to be careful, because there are different factors that influence this, but it is something that must be taken into account,” he concluded.
Ombudsman rules out that in Chile there is a guarantee model
Faced with the perception of public opinion that, Rojas agrees, looks critically at the role of the Public Criminal Defense Office, he emphasizes that everyone has the right to be represented by a lawyer.
Likewise, it adds that from what has been seen at the legislative level, the tendency has been to increase sanctions in some crimes and limit access to compliance with these in freedom.
“The tightening of some laws goes against the belief that we have a guarantee model,” he explained.
“The latest legal changes have been to toughen penalties, avoid alternative punishment in crimes against property, robbery or in the law on weapons control,” he concluded.