16 Court. To this end, the Court will abide by the principles of sound judicial discretion, within the corresponding legal framework.17 A) DOCUMENTARY, TESTIMONIAL, AND EXPERT EVIDENCE 50. At the request of the Court and of the President,18 the Court received the testimonies and informative statements of the following persons sworn before notary public (affidavits):19 (a) Rafael Alberto Rincón Patiño, witness proposed by the Commission and the representatives, was a lawyer and friend of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo and a former Municipal Attorney of Medellín. He testified on Jesús María Valle Jaramillo’s professional qualities, experience, and exercise of the legal profession. He also referred to public policies and actions to confront the violence and the human rights situation in the Department of Antioquia during the period 1995-1998, when he worked as Municipal Attorney; on the type of activities or actions implemented by the authorities with human rights organizations for the defense of these rights; and on the dangerous conditions faced by Jesús María Valle Jaramillo before his murder; (b) Fernando María Velásquez Velásquez, witness proposed by the representatives, was a lawyer and friend of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo. He testified on Jesús María Valle Jaramillo’s professional qualities, experience, and exercise of the legal profession, referring to the obstacles confronted by the latter in the practice of his profession; (c) Saúl Jaramillo Giraldo, witness proposed by the representatives, veterinarian, who worked with the Jaramillo Correa family in their agricultural enterprises and is a friend of Carlos Fernando Jaramillo Correa. His testimony referred to the family relations before the facts of the instant case and the consequences of the exile of Carlos Fernando and his family group on the Jaramillo Correa family; (d) María Amanda Correa Zuleta, witness proposed by the representatives, is a friend of the Jaramillo Correa family. She testified about the family relations before the facts and the consequences of the exile of Carlos Fernando and his family group on the Jaramillo Correa family; (e) Darío Arcila Arenas, witness proposed by the representatives, is a lawyer and was a colleague of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo. He testified on the impact of the death of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo on the work of human rights defenders He also referred to the family relations of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo, to the origin of the financial resources that covered his personal expenses and those of his family, and on the emotional impact that the family suffered owing to his death; (f) Juan Guillermo Valle Noreña, witness proposed by the representatives, is Jesús María Valle Jaramillo's nephew. His testimony related to the family 17 Cf. the “White Van" (Paniagua Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of March 8, 1998. Series C No. 37, para. 52; Case of Bayarri, supra note 13, para. 31, and Case of Heliodoro Portugal, supra note 13, para. 64. 18 Order issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on November 30, 2007, and note of the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of January 22, 2008, supra note 3. 19 In its communication of January 10, 2008, the Inter-American Commission informed the Court that it desisted from presenting the sworn statement of the witness Magdalena Valle Jaramillo.