The General Pico trial hearing judge, María José Gianinetto, convicted CA Fredes, 26, as the perpetrator of the crime of very serious negligent injuries, aggravated by reckless and illegal driving of a motor vehicle; to three years of suspended prison and three years of disqualification from driving motor vehicles.
In addition, it established rules of conduct for a period of two years: to establish an address and not to be absent from it or modify it without giving prior notice to the Approach, Supervision and Orientation Unit for people in conflict with the Law; and take a driving course, which must be completed before obtaining rehabilitation.
The trial took place between April 12, 15 and 16, with Gianinetto – who moved to Victorica – acting as a single-person court. The prosecutor at the trial was Enzo Rangone. In the preparatory investigation, the prosecutor Juan Cupayolo, while, in the intermediate procedure, the prosecutor Alejandra Moyano; the private complainant, representing the victim, lawyer Sergio Sánchez Alustiza; and the private defender, Gastón Gómez.
During the closing arguments, the prosecution requested that Fredes be sentenced to five years and six months in prison for the crime of attempted simple homicide and, alternatively, to five years in prison for very serious intentional injuries. Likewise, he requested that both of them be disqualified from driving and obtaining a driver’s license for ten years.
The complainant adhered to the legal classification requested by Rangone and, in a subsidiary manner, proposed the classification of very serious negligent injuries, also requiring that the maximum penalty be imposed in any of the cases.
Finally, the defense requested acquittal by application of the benefit of the doubt and, also subsidiarily, that the legal figure of negligent injuries be applied and a suspended sentence be imposed.
Gianinetto, in the basis of the ruling, highlighted that all parties agreed that Fredes, driving a Renault 9, hit the victim and fled the scene.
THE EVENT STARTED IN A BAR
As was proven in the trial, the convicted man and the victim argued in a bar. The fight did not end there. A few minutes later and a few blocks from the night bar, Fredes ran over the victim. It was in the early morning of July 9, 2022 on Sarmiento Street in the town of Telén. According to the ruling, there was consensus between the parties that Fredes hit the victim when he was driving his Renault 9, but they differed on the intention behind that action.
PROSECUTOR HAD ASKED FOR 5 YEARS
Specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that it would sustain the initial accusation and after analyzing and evaluating the evidentiary elements incorporated, “since Fredes’ authorship and his responsibility in relation to the crime for which he was accused has been demonstrated. For this reason, Enzo Rangone, prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, requested that he be sentenced for being the author of the crime of Attempted Simple Homicide (Articles 79 and 42 of the CP) to a sentence of five years and six months in prison with effective compliance. and subsidiarily for the crime of Very Serious Intentional Injuries (Art. 91 of the CP), to a sentence of five years in prison with effective compliance.”
In summary, the Public Prosecution maintained that Fredes acted with the intention of causing harm or even death, but the defense argued that it was an accident. The judge – for her part – leaned more towards the last argument and condemned the incident as a road accident.
THE PROSECUTOR’S EVIDENCE
The Prosecutor’s Office provided – among other evidence – the expertise carried out by the Telecommunications Analysis Directorate on the Motorola E5 Plus phone that was kidnapped from Cristian Fredes, and in his statement, the Head of that unit, Commissioner Temístocles Hilario Torreani, reproduced the WhatsApp chat where the accused expressed “something happened to me”, “it was bad”, “but last night I stepped on someone”, “I want to die”. Also in that same chat, two audios were played corresponding to the now convicted man, “…nothing, I fought with the crazy man and then I went out and ran over him on purpose”, “and then I grabbed him and stepped on him…”. In the chats he names the victim by his nickname.
For its part, the report from the Scientific Investigation Agency (AIC) determined that there were no traces of braking. From the testimonies, it emerged that there were no other parked vehicles or obstacles (cars, mounds, animals).
FOR THE JUDGE IT WAS NOT ENOUGH
But for Gianinetto, no objective evidence was found to suggest malicious conduct on the part of Fredes. Instead, his action was determined to be reckless and in violation of traffic laws.
In its recitals, the ruling maintains that they were “minor injuries” and that the victim walked from the place where he was run over.
Furthermore, the judge insisted that: “(…) regarding the injuries that Rodríguez suffered as a result of the accident, although they were slight at the first moment (he had no bone injuries), so much so that they allowed him to walk home, which It is true that they had a very serious outcome.”
The trauma doctor who performed surgery on the victim in Santa Rosa testified at the trial and stated that “to the trauma he had suffered, a compartment syndrome was added, which was what caused the only solution, the amputation of the limb, due to being in danger.” his life”.
