2024-08-18 21:54:57
On July 5, 2024, the CNJ judge suspended the hearing until the requests for annulment that were raised by the defense of those suspected of alleged obstruction of justice were resolved.
On July 18, the hearing was postponed again due to a procedural incident filed by Wilman Terán. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, under the presidency of the Judiciary of Terán, a team was led to prepare a report with which the then judge of the CNJ, Walter Macías, was sanctioned.
After July 5, 2024, when the criminal judge of the National Court of Justice (CNJ), Julio Inga, suspended the evaluation and trial preparation hearing in the case “Judicial Independence“, in which Wilman Terán is prosecuted for the alleged crime of “obstruction of justice”, also investigated in the Metastasis case; and Maribel Barreno, former president and former member of the Judicial Council (CJ), the magistrate has not managed to install the diligence.
Procedural incidents brought by Wilman Terán have prevented the continuation of the legal process initiated by the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) in 2022.
“Due to incidents caused by the defendant Wilman T., former president of the Judiciary, the preparatory hearing for the trial for alleged obstruction of justice will not be reinstated. The judge summons the parties to the proceedings for tomorrow (Friday, July 19) at 08:30,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote on its social networks.
In the minutes before the judge began the hearing, Wilman Terán argued that from La Roca prison (Guayaquil) he is defenseless because he does not have the technological elements (computer and internet) to exercise his right to defense.
On the night of Wednesday, July 18, Terán had been transferred again to The Rockafter his appearance before the National Assembly to defend himself against impeachment.
Wilman Terán declared himself in rebellion
On July 11, Terán, a prisoner in La Roca prison (Guayaquil), connected via Zoom and declared himself in rebellion. That day, Julio Inga was going to give the floor to the Prosecutor’s Office to present its accusation, but Terán interrupted the magistrate.
The judge tried to explain to him that it was not his turn to speak and Terán became upset, said that he would challenge it and ordered his lawyers (Jorge Haz and Gabriel Terán) to leave the hearing and argued that there was an intention to oppress his defense.
Prosecutors denied accusations of alleged mutilation of files
In the hearing held on July 5, 2024, the deputy prosecutor, Wilson Toainga, who acted as the holder of the criminal action, described it as “fallacy” the statement by Wilman Terán who during the hearing argued that the Prosecutor’s Office had mutilated part of the case file. Toainga denied this assertion.
The request for annulment made by Maribel Barreno’s defense, for the same reasons, was also rejected by Toainga, who asked the CNJ judge to dismiss the requests of those accused in the case and declare the validity of everything done since 2023 (when the investigation began).
Toainga also asked the judge to dismiss the allegations of Andres Jacomeformer CJ official during the administration of Wilman Terán, who also declared before the criminal judge that the fiscal file of the case had been mutilated, and that the nullity be declared from page 348 because it is considered a very serious nullity defect.
The deputy prosecutor made a similar request to the judge in response to the allegations of Carlos Garavi, former deputy director of disciplinary control of the National Directorate of Legal Advice of the CJ during the Terán administration. In the hearing, Garavi’s defense requested the annulment of the process from page 7349 because, according to him, the prosecution violated due process, and omitted to incorporate in the file requests for evidence and expert reports. However, Wilson Toainga, assured the judge that they were indeed notified of the link, and that they are even part of the investigative collection.
During the hearing on July 5, 2024, Garavi’s defense also pointed out that, like others investigated among them Andres Jacomewas to issue an opinion (to the full CJ) regarding an alleged sanction against Judge Walter Macías. However, he insisted that the opinion only constitutes an administrative act, but not a criminal offense.
The Prosecutor also denied the arguments of the defense of Milton Altamirano, that there was no adequate exercise of defense.
The arguments of Liverton Caveacting deputy director of Disciplinary Control; Jessica Chicaiza and Olga Vivanco, advisors to Maribel Barreno; and Katherine Luna, Wilman Terán’s former advisor, regarding an alleged dismemberment of the case file by the prosecution, was also dismissed by the prosecutor, and he asked the judge to dismiss the allegations of those investigated.
Paul Perez Reinalawyer of Santiago Cifuenteswho served as an advisor to Wilman Terán, said that in the proceedings carried out by the prosecution there is a common denominator that violates due process, and clarified that, in the case of his client, he could not exercise his right to defense because he was not notified of the proceedings, something that was also rejected by Wilson Toainga.
Stalin Raza, lawyer of Milton Herreraadvisor to Wilman Terán, also requested the annulment of the process.
The then member of the Judiciary, Xavier Muñoz, was also involved in the fiscal investigation. On June 18, 2024, he pleaded guilty to “obstruction of justice” and Judge Julio Inga reduced his prison sentence to 9 months and 6 days.
The infraction of obstruction of justice is classified in article 270.1, numeral 3 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP) punishable by up to 7 years of imprisonment.
For the Prosecutor’s Office, under the presidency of the Judiciary of Wilman Terán (February 2023-December 2023), a team would have been led to prepare a report with which the then judge of the CNJ, Walter Macías, was sanctioned and dismissed, who in September 2023 substantiated a process against Maribel Barreno, and the former member of the CJ, Juan José Morillo for the alleged crime of influence peddling (SC)