This Monday, the plaintiff lawyer José Mario Aguerrido asked Magdalena Espósito Valenti and her girlfriend Abigail Páez for a
life sentence with indefinite confinement.
It happened during the sentence request hearing that was held for the murder of Lucio Dupuy (5 years old).
And in which it was defined that the announcement will be made
on Friday of this week.
For her part, prosecutor Verónica Ferrero requested
life imprisonment, but without the accessory imprisonment for an indefinite period.
While the defenses of Espósito Valenti and Páez asked that the sentence not be for life.
Both convicted women participated in the hearing this Monday virtually,
from the San Luis prison,
where they had already heard the sentence that found them guilty of the murder of Lucio.
The hearing began at 8 at the Santa Rosa Judicial Center.
The court, made up of President Alejandra Ongaro, Andrés Olié and Daniel Sáez Zamora, determined that it will present its decision on Friday at 12 noon.
The sentences for the crime of Lucio Dupuy will be defined on Friday at 12. In this Friday's hearing, those convicted of the murder witnessed the hearing from a jail in San Luis.
Lucio's father, Christian Dupuy, was present at the hearing, which was held privately, while grandparents Ramón Dupuy and Silvia Gómez waited outside.
Magdalena Espósito Valenti was found guilty of the aggravated homicide of her son.
While Abigail Páez, Abigail's partner, was found guilty of aggravated homicide and
outrageous sexual abuse
.
The crimes for which they were found guilty carry sentences of life imprisonment.
But the exact length of the sentence was questioned by defense lawyers and is also the
subject of debate in Argentina's criminal system
.
That is why the court's decision, which will be known on Friday, is important.
The family of Lucio Dupuy, his father and his grandfather, at the hearing this Monday in which the arguments and appeals for the confirmation of the sentences were presented, which will be known on Friday at 12.
According to the Criminal Code, the figure of "life imprisonment" corresponds to the sentence for "aggravated homicide".
In these cases, the law does not allow for parole or temporary release.
What will be known on Friday if the court agrees to some type of moderation of the sentence.
Due to the type of trial modality, the resolution was divided into two parts: in the first, the guilt of the defendants was established, who
were found guilty.
And in a second instance the duration of the sentence is known.
At the hearing this Monday, prosecutor Ferrero requested a life sentence for the convicted women.
She maintained that "it is
constitutional
and is not contrary to international conventions and treaties."
For his part, lawyer José María Aguerrido adhered to the proposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office, but added the requirement that the penalty be imprisonment
for an indefinite period
, an alternative provided for in article 52 of the Penal Code.
He based it, among other reasons, on
the extent of the damage caused to "an absolutely vulnerable boy",
adding that Lucio's death was the end of a process of
child abuse.
For her part, Silvina Blanco Gómez (defender of Abigail Páez) asked the Court to quantify the sentence that would correspond to Páez, because she understood that if life imprisonment were applied -with the current regulations-
"he will only get out of jail with his death
, since currently the life sentence is materially and literally perpetual.
In addition, he requested that this quantification be the minimum due to the
lack of a
criminal record and the age of the accused (28 years);
and affirmed that the Supreme Court has already established the
unconstitutionality
of imprisonment for an indefinite period of time.
Finally, De Biasi (Esposito Valenti's defender) held the same arguments.
He asked that the sanction be quantified (he
spoke of "a sentence in years").
He argued that life imprisonment established by the Penal Code is unconstitutional, that international treaties prevent the application of "cruel, inhuman and degrading" sentences, and that with life imprisonment not even the accused would have access -at some point- to the
benefit of probation for his “social readaptation”.
De Biasi affirmed that the maximum time for life imprisonment in Argentina is
25 years
and required that the legal minimum be applied.
Before Ongaro, as president of the Court, announced that on Friday the sentences that Esposito Valenti and Páez will receive will be known, she asked if any of the defendants wanted to speak and
both – through their defenders – answered no.
The Pampa.
Correspondent
SC
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Crime of Lucio Dupuy: the trial continues with another hearing before confirming the sentence
