Upside down for police officer Luis Chocobar: he will not be tried by a popular jury as he had requested

02/06/2020 - 15:44

• Clarín.com
• Police

A juvenile court on Thursday rejected the request of the defense of police officer Luis Chocobar to be tried by a popular jury for the crime of a young man who in 2017 assaulted and stabbed an American tourist in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca.

For this reason, the police will be submitted to debate by the Oral Juvenile Court (TOM) 2 from next February 26 , as planned.

"The request by the defense was well done, but not being legislated, it is not an obligation of justice to access the trial by jurors," Télam Fernando Soto, Chocobar's defender, told the news agency.

Soto said he knew that the chances of the court agreeing to judge the police with a popular jury "were low," which is why he is not "surprised " by the justice decision.

The jury trial rules in the provinces of Córdoba, Neuquén, Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Chaco, Entre Ríos and Chubut, but not in the City of Buenos Aires, where the cause is based.

On the other hand, when asked about Chocobar's mood, Soto said he is "distressed" and that the fact "impacted him in his life." " He is convinced that he acted according to the law, " said the lawyer.

The court set the date for the start of the oral trial on February 26, when the police will face the charge against the court for the crime of "homicide for excess in the line of duty."

The debate, as planned, will take place later during the days of March 4, 11, 18 and 25.

In addition to Chocobar, in the oral trial, the alleged accomplice of the dead suspect, Juan Pablo Kukoc (28), who was a minor at the time of the incident, will also be tried, which is why the file was under the orbit of TOM 2 and Not from an ordinary Oral Criminal Court (TOC).

The incident occurred on December 8, 2017, when the American photographer Frank Joseph Wolek (60) was walking through La Boca and shortly before reaching Caminito Street he was intercepted by two robbers who stole his camera.

During the robbery, one of the thieves stabbed him a dozen times in the chest and left him seriously injured, after which both criminals ran away, but while one managed to escape, the other, then identified as Kukoc, was intercepted three blocks away. by two passersby who had seen the attack and held him on the floor.

Shortly thereafter, Chocobar, a local police officer from Avellaneda, arrived at the scene, who identified himself and, as he later declared, shot the criminal because he thought he was going to take out a gun.

Kukoc died from the severity of the injuries, while the other assailant was arrested.

For his part, Chocobar was also detained, although he was released days later and was supported by then President Mauricio Macri, who received him at the Casa Rosada.