After more than seven years of trial, a popular jury declared Hugo Francisco Méndez not guilty in the murder trial of Jonathan Garnica, which took place in 2018 in Los Hornos.
The unanimous decision brought an end to a case characterized by apparent delay, a lack of hard evidence, and a process that took much longer than usual in a case of this type.
Mendez was arrested a few minutes after the crime, but no firearm was found in his possession. There were also no witnesses who saw him shoot, and the Dermotest test – a scientific test applied to detect traces of gunshot residue on a person’s hands – gave a negative result.
Despite this, the case was brought to trial and the accused was kept on trial for more than 7 years.
The incident investigated occurred on the night of August 14, 2018, when a group arrived at the home of the Mendez family, 152 between the ages of 69 and 70.
In the middle of a violent incident, Garnica was shot and died shortly after. Mendez was identified as the shooter, although no weapon was found on him during the investigation, a skin test result was negative and several witnesses were unable to locate him at the exact moment of the attack.
In oral argument, the defense highlighted the weakness of the accusation and questioned inconsistencies in the financial hypothesis.
After listening to arguments and testimony for three days, the popular jury deliberated and decided to acquit Mendez.
The discussion was chaired by the Technical Judge of the Oral Criminal Court No. 5, Carmen Palacios Arias. When the decision was announced, the hall erupted in applause.
The decision again comes up for debate during the criminal regime in Buenos Aires, especially in cases, as in this case, where the central evidence was not sufficient to support the accusation for more than seven years.