28. Nicaragua’s Directorate of Migration and Nationality authorized the foreigners’ departure to their countries of origin without initiating criminal proceedings against them for being migrants with irregular status, which at the time was a crime.22 B. Regarding the domestic proceedings 29. The assistant criminal prosecutor in Chinandega filed charges against Fernando Antonio Carcache Pineda, José Marcelino Ramírez Vargas, Ricardo Javier Salgado Ojeda, Silvio Antonio Vanegas Blandon, Francisco Simon Ordoñez Nájarez, and José Reynaldo Pineda Silva as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of culpable homicide to the detriment of Pedro Basilio Roche Azaña and willful injury to the detriment of Patricio Roche Azaña, Maribel Quispe Pohuanare, Nora Doza Samaniego, Adolfo Castillo Sarmiento, and Marcelino Cajamarca Ruviola.23 30. On May 6, 1996, the First District Criminal Court issued a formal order for the imprisonment of the defendants Fernando Antonio Carcache Pineda, José Marcelino Ramírez Vargas, Ricardo Javier Salgado Ojeda, Silvio Antonio Vanegas Blandon, and Francisco Simon Ordoñez Nájarez. In addition, José Reynaldo Pineda Silva was cleared of charges, as it could not be determined that he fired shots on the day of the events in question.24 31. A judgment handed down on August 28, 1996, by the Criminal Chamber of the Appeals Court, Western Region, upheld the imprisonment of the defendants, except for Fernando Antonio Carcache, against whom charges were dismissed because when the events in question occurred he was parking the patrol vehicle that he was driving at that moment.25 32. On February 24, 1997, the Jury Court found the defendants innocent of the crimes of culpable homicide and willful injury.26 The Commission notes that this ruling covers only how the decision went but does not include the grounds upon which the jury reached its conclusion. In keeping with the verdict, the First District Criminal Court in Chinandega cleared the defendants on February 27, 1997.27 As with the other ruling, this decision does not include the reasoning behind it. Under the laws of the State of Nicaragua, the decision cannot be appealed.28 33. During the investigation, the procedural steps carried out included the taking of statements of 32 migrants who had been traveling in the van29 and 8 Nicaraguans who either heard the gunshots or helped the wounded30; 22 statements from police officers with knowledge of the events31; and the statements of the defendants who indicated they had fired their weapons. 32 In addition, a visual inspection was done of the vehicle, which, as mentioned earlier, showed six bullet holes33; a visual inspection found nine bullet casings 34; Observations from the State of Nicaragua in the information provided by the petitioner and forwarded by the IACHR, dated December 6, 2007. 23 Annex XX. Case File. Criminal Complaint of the Assistant Prosecutor of Chinandega. April 26, 1996, p. 534. 24 Annex XX. Case File. Judgment of First District Criminal Court of Chinandega. May 6, 1996, p. 625. 25 Annex XX. Case File. Judgment of the Appeals Court. August 28, 1996, p. 683. 26 Annex XX. Case File. Verdict of the Jury Court. February 24, 1997, p. 759. 27 Annex XX. Case File. Judgment of First District Criminal Court of Chinandega. February 27, 1997, p. 765. 28 Article 22 of the Code of Criminal Instruction. 29 Annex XX. Case File. Statements of migrants, pp. 12-81. 30 Annex XX. Case File. Statements of Antonio Alejandro López Ríos, José Adrián Madrigal García, Ruperto Méndez Méndez, Rodolfo Guerrero Zeledón, Martina Alicia Reyes Rocha, Juan Reyes Cruz, Rigoberto Leonel Morales, and Rosa Izuguirre, pp. 100-107. 31 Annex XX. Case File. Statements of Germán Pineda Dávila, José Danilo Pérez Chevez, Alberto José Vasquez Gómez, Fernando Antonio Carcache Pineda, Carlos Alberto Aguirre Larios, Isaac Milsiades Real, Ricardo José Vega, Mauricio Rafael Robinson Parrales, José Agustín Siles Luna, Mackely Artur Solono, Sergio Oswaldo Romero Arauz, Jorge Escorcia Moreno, José Asunción Mallano Dávila, Williams Alejandro Romero Santana, José Francisco Garmedia Cruz, Ricardo Ramón González Herrera, William José Noguera Rivas, Sergio Oswaldo Romero, Erundina Hernández López, Manuel de Jesús Peralta García, Eliodoro Marcelino Vega Rojas, and Andrés Real Mendoza. 32 Annex XX. Case File. Statements of José Carcache Pineda, Francisco Simón Ordoñez Najare, Ricardo Javier Salgado Ojeda, Silvio Antonio Vanegas Blandon, José Marcelino Ramírez Vargas, and José Reynaldo Pineda Silva. 33 Annex XX. Case File. Visual Inspection Report on Vehicle. April 18, 1996, p. 12. 34 Annex XX. Case File. Visual Inspection Report on Vehicle. April 18, 1996, p. 12. 22