Costa Rica News – When I heard this news I just thought to myself are you frigging kidding me. Four Costa Rican police officers were accused of shooting and killing a homeless man that was sleeping. So what does the Costa Rican legal system do……sets them free still with their jobs and guns with a slap on the hand.
Four police officers suspected of shooting and killing of a homeless man were released Tuesday.
The Criminal Court issued no jail time, although the prosecution had asked for three months’ imprisonment.
Rosibel Morales, a lawyer for the accused officers, said this morning that the measures imposed was for them to sign in once a month and have been reassigned to different areas of Costa Rica.
The defendants with surnames Urbina, 26 years old, Astua (23), Aguero (24) and Dormond (26) and are suspected of having claimed the life of Mario Enrique Alvarez Espinoza, age 50.
The prosecution has accused them of crimes of manslaughter, falsification and alteration of documents.
The incident occurred July 18, when the homeless man was sleeping in a vacant lot in Lomas del Rio, Pavas, San José.
So these sick individuals that most likely killed a person for sport are free to roam the streets with their guns in hand. I guess if you have a government position you can do whatever you want except make a video in your undies.
Thank you for another example of government ineptness Costa Rica.
2 comments
You need to send this link to the tourism sections of all the USA’s big papers. Don’t forget the vanishing tourist list over the past 6 or so years.
Hold the fort. The most serious problem with CR’s criminal justice system is the practice of preventative detention. Yup, you can spend years in jail waiting for a trial that may or may not find you guilty. In this case, the allegations are so wild that I for one have a hard time believing them. So four cops shot a sleeping homeless man in the back for no reason? I can’t believe any cop is this dumb or violent, much less four of them. Surely there is a defense here that the yellow journalism press hasn’t mentioned. I therefore say wait for a trial to sort it out, then levy whatever punishment (if any) is due. To call for a lynch mob and fault CR for not stringing up the cops before a trial is really wrongheaded.