2023-08-10 00:32:24
Carlos Moura/SCO/STF
The Minister of the STF, André Mendonça
Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court, revoked a conviction for drug trafficking. The sentence was based on a police action that entered a residence without proper judicial authorization, using an anonymous tip and without carrying out prior investigations.
The accused had been sentenced to seven years in prison by the Judgment of the Narcotics Rod of the District of Campina Grande (PB). The sentence was later upheld by the Court of Justice of Paraíba (TJ-PB), despite the efforts of the defense to seek amparo in habeas corpus, which was rejected by the Superior Court of Justice.
The defense, when appealing to the STF, argued that the police entry to the defendant’s residence “frontally violated the fundamental guarantee of home inviolability, guaranteed by article 5, item XI of the Constitution”. André Mendonça, responsible for the case, pointed out the importance of following the law in the action of the police forces.
The minister used the Code of Criminal Procedure to emphasize that entry into a residence without a warrant is permitted only for “substantiated reasons”. He added that, although the STF admits anonymous complaints as a starting point for criminal investigations, such complaints must be preceded by steps that attest to the veracity of the allegations.
Mendonça reported that the anonymous tip about suspicious activity was not enough to justify police action. The minister used a case law of the STF as the basis for his decision. He stated that prior presentation of “substantiated reasons” is required before forcibly entering any residence.
The minister pointed out that the seizure of drugs after forced entry is not enough to validate an arbitrary police action.
He concluded that the illegality of the police operation tarnishes the resulting evidence, which, in turn, compromises the conviction, since it is directly related to the proof of the materiality of the crime. As a result, the conviction was overturned.
the accusation
The man was arrested and convicted after police found a considerable amount of drugs, such as crack and cocaine, hidden in a false compartment in the bathroom wall.
They also found knives, a piece of wood with traces of drugs, plastic bags, a precision scale and other items that indicated that the drug was being prepared and fractionated in that house.
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