National Penitentiary, and upon finding Mr. José Ángel Rosa detained there, he asked the prison Director “to be separated from those convicted to avoid difficult situations.”149 83. On February 5, 2002, Judge José Hildebrán Pérez signed an order stating that “[t]aking into account that the media has made comments that [he was] pressured to rule in favor of Mr. Jorge Chávez and given that the Supreme Court of Justice has not offered protection to ex officio judges, he abstain[ed] from hearing [the case] concerning the death of Mr. Carlos Antonio Luna and the attempted murder to the detriment of Silvia Gonzales.”150 84. On December 16, 2003, Judge Hilda Rosario Lobo Díaz, representing the Civil Court, ruled that “finding that the suspects Ítalo Iván Lemus, Marcos Morales, Wilfredo Pérez and José Ángel Rosa have not given [testimony], the current proceedings continue separately against Mr. Jorge Adolfo Chávez, who was imprisoned and [had] legal representation to continue the proceedings.”151 85. On September 10, 2004, the Civil Court issued a first instance judgment in which it absolved Mr. Jorge Adolfo Chávez of responsibility for the murder of Mr. Luna López and the crime of attempted murder to the detriment of Silvia Gonzales, considering that neither “the representative of the Public Prosecutor nor the Private Prosecutor at any time during the trial provided or investigated evidence that would prove with certainty that […] Jorge Adolfo Chávez [had] acted as organizer [paying] the amounts of fifty thousand or ten thousand lempiras to murder the now deceased Carlos Antonio Luna López.”152 86. Following an appeal filed on April 25, 2005, the Third Court of Appeals of Tegucigalpa decided to sentence Jorge Adolfo Chávez to 17 years in prison for the murder of Carlos Luna and seven years and two months for the attempted murder of Silvia Gonzales,153 having concluded that: “although it is true that there is no direct evidence indicating the defendant Jorge Adolfo Chávez [as] guilty of the acts attributed to him, it is no less true that there are sufficient facts or indications which, examined together, allow the Court, through a reasoned mental process and following the rules of sound criticism, to arrive with certainty at the conclusion that […] the accused Jorge Adolfo Chávez was the person who, together with others planned the murder of Carlos Luna, sending Oscar Aurelio Rodríguez (El Machetío) with others to carry out the act.”154 149 Notification by the Magistrates Criminal Court addressed to the Director of the National Penitentiary dated June 15, 2002 (File of attachments to the State’s response, page 5848). 150 5780). Order of the Magistrates Criminal Court of May 5, 2002 (File of attachments to the State’s response, page 151 Ruling of the Catacamas Civil Court of December 16, 2003 (File of attachments to the State’s response, page 5944). The Court notes that on September 24, 2003, the defense requested the provisional release of Mr. Jorge Chávez. Nevertheless, in a decision issued on October 21, 2003, the Civil Court ruled the application inadmissible. After a revocation request with a subsidiary appeal filed by the defense, on March 25, 2004, the Third Court of Appeals ratified the ruling of October 21, 2003. Cf. Brief requesting provisional release dated September 24, 2003 (File of attachments to the State’s response, pages 5917 to 5921); Ruling of the Catacamas Civil Court of October 21, 2003 (File of attachments to the State’s response, page 5923), and Ruling of the Third Court of Appeals of March 25, 2004 (File of attachments to the State’s response, pages 5956 and 5958). 152 671). Judgment of the Catacamas Civil Court of September 10, 2004 (Attachments to the Report on Merits, page 153 Cf. Judgment of the Third Court of Appeals of April 25, 2005 (File of attachments to the final written arguments, pages 9121 to 9132). From the evidence provided in the file, the Court is unable to confirm the date on which the appeal was filed. 154 Judgment of the Third Court of Appeals of April 25, 2005, supra (pages 9127 and 9129). 28