DAY TWENTY-FIVE: Trial Against David Castillo

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Last update: May 28 at 9:15 am

Main Points of the Day

  • The court denied the defense’s request to release David Castillo from pre-trial detention. As a result of the delays caused by motions presented by Castillo’s attorneys, the court extended his pre-trial detention until September 23, 2021.

  • Tomorrow, the trial will continue after today’s brief interruption for the bail hearing. Daniel Atala will be called to testify by the Cáceres family’s lawyers. The trial is convened for 9 am.

More Details

Court Rejects Changing Castillo’s Pre-Trial Detention Status

  • The request for a bail hearing was presented on May 24th, 2021 as Castillo’s pre-trial detention was set to expire on May 25, 2021 as per a court decision made on September 28, 2020 that extended it for 8 months and 23 days (until May 25, 2021).

  • The court ruled that because of the following delays, Castillo’s pretrial detention would be extended yet again for 118 days which account for all the delays caused by Castillo’s defense. The court explained the delays:

    • The first request to recuse the court on September 7, 2020. The decision was denied by the Appeals court. This caused a 6 day delay

    • The audiencia de nulidades [kind of like a hearing to hear arguments about violations of process] scheduled for October 8, 2020 did not take place. The defense presented a second request to recuse the court on October 7, 2020. This caused a 20 day delay

    • The audiencia de nulidades took place on October 27. The defense presented an appeal which was declared inadmissible on November 10, 2020. The court file was not returned from the Appeals court until December 11, 2020. During this time frame, the evidentiary hearing was scheduled and was suspended as the court waited for the appeals process. This caused a 42 day delay.

    • The evidentiary hearing was then scheduled to take place on January 11, 2021 but was cancelled because the defense presented a third request to recuse the court on that same day. The request was rejected by the Appeals court. This caused a 12 day delay

    • The evidentiary hearing was scheduled yet again for February 10 but it didn’t take place because additional appeals were presented causing it to be suspended. This caused an 8 day delay

    • The evidentiary hearing finally took place on February 18, 2021. The trial was then scheduled to begin on April 6 to April 26 but was suspended because the defense presented a fourth request to recuse the court. This caused a 20 day delay.

    • Calculating all the delays (16, 20, 42, 12, 8, 20) totals 118 days which extends Castillo’s pre-trial detention from the end of May 2021 to September 23, 2021.

  • The defense asked the court to reconsider their decision. They argued that the law allows them the right to file motions to defend their client. All of the presented motions were part of a legitimate exercise of the law. Castillo has been in pre-trial detention for 3 years, over the 2.5 year limit.

  • The prosecutors were in support of the court’s decision to extend the pre-trial detention arguing that the decision is based on the law. The law allows for the court to extend pre-trial detention beyond 2.5 years to account for delays in the legal process. They also argued that Castillo’s defense has intentionally delayed the process.

  • The private accusers supported the decision as well arguing that it is not just the accused that has rights, but also the victims in a process, which have the right to a trial within a fair time frame. They argued that the defense has abused their right to present legal motions and have thus delayed the process.