20
With respect to the lack of autopsy in the case, he stated that in 1992 there was a
forensic medical department under the Judiciary, with presence in Tegucigalpa and in
San Pedro Sula. In other places, private physicians were hired. Nevertheless, in
remote places, the judges appointed “lay experts.” If the persons did not agree with
the expert opinion, they requested exhumation of the corpse to perform an autopsy.
He stated that implementation of the 1985 code in the 1990s made the habeas
corpus remedies 90% effective.
When a person for whom an arrest warrant was issued is still at large, but there are
other, unidentified participants, the investigation must continue.
He declared that pursuant to the organizational law of the public security forces, it
was the responsibility of the police to conduct the investigations. He deemed that if
there were shortcomings, they could have been covered by a popular action initiative
of the interested party.
In the 1985 system, investigation, preliminary proceedings and all the pre-trial
proceedings were the responsibility of the examining judge, and the actions and
investigations were “definitely” ex officio. The actions that the judge could order on
his own motion included exhumation of the body, unless the judge deemed that the
death was due to natural causes, in which cases he would not order it. In any case,
if the next of kin disagree with the decision by the judge, a popular interest action is
feasible.
With the entry into force of the new criminal procedural code, the files at the courts
were counted and it was found that there were 125.000 without a judicial decision,
which could take up to ten years if the interested parties did not move them forward.
There are two versions on the case, one that accuses Ángel Belisario Hernández
González, in which case, if he conducted the arrest, logically he did not do so alone,
as he had other persons under his command. Another version is that Juan Humberto
Sánchez was captured by “bearded persons.” It is a crime which must have been
committed jointly by several persons. In this case, the timeframe of the statute of
limitations does not elapse because there is an ongoing investigation.
He deems that the evidence is not sufficiently solid to accuse Ángel Belisario
Hernández González of the crime of homicide.
C) EVIDENCE ASSESSMENT
Evaluation of the Documentary Evidence
45.
In this case, as in others,21 the Court admits the evidentiary value of those
documents that were submitted by the parties at the appropriate procedural time or
as evidence to facilitate adjudication of the case, which were neither disputed nor
challenged, and the authenticity of which was not questioned. On the other hand,
pursuant to Article 43 of the Rules of Procedure, the Court admits the evidence
21
Cf. “Five Pensioners” Case, supra note 3, para. 84; Cantos Case, supra note 5, para. 41; Las
Palmeras Case, Reparations, supra note 4, para. 28; and El Caracazo Case, Reparations, supra note 4,
para. 57.
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