:format(png)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gfrmedia/TF5VJDPZHJD5VJBAK5ZEQCAZCA.JPG)
Jensen Medina Cardona, charged with murder Arellys Mercado Ríos, He was released from prison yesterday following an order from the Fajardo court, so he is now in his father’s house with an electronic handcuff., confirmed his lawyer, Jorge Gordon Menendez
“He will be under total ‘lockdown’ in the residence which, of course, must be that of the third custodian who is his father,” Gordon Menéndez said in a telephone interview with The new day.
The order was issued by the judge Irmarie Colón Massó following an urgent motion requesting amendments to the prison order issued on August 23, 2019 by Vanessa Sánchez invested. According to the court order issued by Colón Massó, the pre-trial detention order, as amended and issued in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling of 4 December, was amended.
The arrest warrant in question was for bail of $ 1,150,000 and for which Medina Cardona was charged.
However, in December 2019, the Court of Appeal revoked the bail increase from $ 1,500,000 to $ 300,000 for Medina Cardona, so the Justice went to the Supreme Court in an attempt to reverse the decision.
It was not until March 10 that the Supreme Court declared inadmissible the request to increase the bail against Medina Cardona, requested by the Department of Justice.
Then, in July, the Court returned the appeal to seek reconsideration, but the plenary session of the Supreme Court, according to Gordón Menéndez, in a decision of 6 to 3 declared that the motion for reconsideration was not applicable and ruled that the Court to comply with the resolution. The resolution was notified on 16 December.
“In view of this, the defense appeals to the court of first instance in Fajardo asking the court to amend the prison order issued by the judge who increased the bail, because once he entered that prison order with a millionaire bail, there was no other way he could get out. The court gave the prosecutor 24 hours to express himself. […] The Public Ministry did not comment. After the 24-hour period granted to the Public Ministry expired, the court had no choice but to order his release “, the lawyer explained.
According to the documentation provided by the court administration, the guarantee company is Allegheny Casualty Company, headquartered on Avenida Ponce de León. Medina Cardona borrowed a total of $ 30,000, or 10 percent of the initial $ 300,000 bond issued by Judge Sánchez from the Fajardo Court on August 21, 2019.
The next step in this case will be to hold a status hearing on January 14 and then continue the process.
Amid legal disputes between the defense and the prosecution, the trial technically began on January 14, when the victim’s cousin sat down to testify, who is a federal agent and was the one the family chose to identify the body to the Institute of Forensic Sciences. .
Court of Appeal ordered, on August 25, the suspension of the trial against Medina Cardona in response to the defense ‘s request for defense challenges the decision of the Court of First Instance to prohibit the defendant from having the trial reimbursed by the jury.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled on November 10 that prosecutors could use in the trial the photo with which a witness identified Medina Cardona as Mercado Ríos’ alleged criminal, stating that no request for reconsideration had been filed. defense.
The Supreme Court also stated that this issue will not be addressed again, after two attempts to reconsider the decision that the identification is valid.
From the preliminary hearing stage, Medina Cardona’s defense tried several times to challenge the process of identifying the accused by the witness.
Finally, the Court of Appeal ruled on November 18 that Medina Cardona’s request to restore the right to a trial by the jury should remain in the hands of the trial judge, Gema González.
The panel of judges consisting of Abelardo Bermúdez Torres, Ivelisse Domínguez Irizarry and Monsita Rivera Marchand argued that Medina Cardona had validly waived her trial by the jury, so she “could not request” the reinstatement of the same right before the Court of Appeal.
The court therefore indicated that the controversy would return to the Court of First Instance, where Judge Gema González could ultimately decide whether the trial would take place by law or by jury under strict “judicial discretion”.
Mercado Ríos’ murder dates back to August 2019, when he was shot in the neck after an argument on Villa Marina Boulevard in Fajardo.
Medina Cardona, 34, who was also in the Fajardo marina, according to the prosecution, is accused of firing the trigger against Mercado Ríos after an argument on a mobile phone.
The prosecutor’s office in this case consists of prosecutors Eduardo Beale, Jaime Perea and Dianette Aymat.
Medina Cardona faces charges of first-degree murder and two violations of the Weapons Law, for which she pleaded not guilty.