23 which is to kill; and second, the absence of the circumstances that attend murder as defined in Article 450 of the same Penal Code; in the instant case, a study of the evidence as reported in the judgment being appealed establishes doubt as to whether there was a direct intent to kill. 74 Therefore, that doubt must be settled in the convicted man’s favor […]. 124. In this ruling the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court addressed a number of “irregularities” in the processing of the case, as follows: The Chamber has detected a number of irregularities in the instant case, such as the fact that by the time the Superior Court of Esmeraldas delivered its ruling on the appeal to set aside the judgment, there had been an unwarranted delay of almost four years; that ruling “confirms the verdict” handed down by the First Criminal Court of Esmeraldas, which does not correspond to a ruling that addresses the legality of the procedure followed. Furthermore, this Chamber finds another irregularity in the opinion written by Dr. Joel Arias Velez for the Criminal Court, as this member of the court had no authority to render the opinion he wrote, which was his view that the court did not have jurisdiction in the case. Finally, the Prosecutor erred in filing the appeal, which in this case should have been done according to the Code of Criminal Procedure and not by invoking the Civil Cassation Law as the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office did in 75 this case. 125. On February 28, 2000, through General Order No. 049, the Council of Police Trainees and Police Officers dismissed police officer Guillermo Segundo Cortez Escobedo from the ranks of the police force, on grounds that he was included in the elimination quota for 199976 and had served out his transitional period.77 VI. THE LAW 126. Based on the findings of fact, the Commission will now examine their legal consequences under the American Convention, in the following order: i) the right to life and the right of children to special protection; ii) the rights to judicial guarantees and to judicial protection in the 74 Appendix 34. Judgment of the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, February 26, 2002 (Attachment to the petitioner’s brief of June 19, 2009) 75 Appendix 34. Judgment of the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, February 26, 2002 (Attachment to the petitioner’s brief of June 19, 2009). 76 Appendix 38. Memorandum No. 2000-140-CCP from the President of the Council of Police Trainees and Police Officers, issued on May 3, 2000 (Attachment to the State’s brief of November 6, 2003). 77 Appendix 39. General Order No. 049 from the General Command of the National Police for Thursday, March 2, 2000 (Attachment to the State’s brief of November 6, 2003). The available information on the dismissal of Mr. Cortez from the police force indicates that on April 19, 2000 the legal counsel of the Board of Classes and Police wrote the following to its President: Article 95 of the National Police Personnel Law states: "The annual list of terminations in each rank consists of police personnel in one or more of the following situations: …c) Not rated suitable for promotion to the immediately superior rank." Police constable GUILLERMO SEGUNDO CORTEZ ESCOBEDO has not only been disqualified once for promotion but, indeed, has been rated as unsuitable for promotion on three occasions. This occurred on the dates and for the reasons set out below and are noted in his professional record [...]. An analysis of his professional record shows that the claimant is a repeat offender in terms of disciplinary faults, for which he has been punished, accumulating a total of 188 days of arrest, which number exceeds the limit set for the promotion of a police constable to corporal, second grade, which is 180 days of arrest, itself a highly forgiving number. Moreover, the claimant has been brought up on charges in criminal proceedings for conduct unbecoming of a member of the police; thus, his record states that he has been prosecuted for the homicide of a minor and for attempted murder.