analyzed the facts presented before the trial court which determined that, effectively, it was
not complicity but co-perpetration. In this regard, the Third Chamber concluded that “[...] it
was possible to determine the specific role played by [Rafael Rojas...] in the execution of the
prior plan, which involved the distribution of functions for a common purpose: to defraud the
victim, which means that the accused and his companion retained functional control of the
act in its execution [...] and were responsible for the overall criminal act. It is irrelevant at
what stage of the iter criminis the actions of each of the parties involved took place.” 409
290. Furthermore, the Third Chamber dismissed the arguments put forward by Mr. Rojas
based on the following reasons. First, it held that the alleged statute of limitations for the
crime of embezzlement had not expired, but that it had expired for the crime of use of a false
document. However “[…] in the intellectual analysis it indicated that, in the case of concurrent
offenses, the penalty to be imposed was the one pertaining to the most serious offense, that
is, embezzlement, leaving the crime of use of a false document[…] without penalty.
Consequently, there is no harm to the accused.” Regarding the failure of the prosecution to
bring two pieces of evidence to trial, namely the order forms and the purchase and sale
invoices issued by the affected company, the Chamber noted that “[…]their absence cannot
be associated with the lack of objectivity of the Public Prosecutor's Office, even in his
statement the [representative] of the injured party [...] indicated that he [did] not keep the
documentation […]. Nevertheless, [the] Chamber, by hypothetically including this evidence,
is able to determine that it would not be fundamental to change the direction of the judges'
decision, since, as indicated by the lower court, the testimonial and documentary evidence
gathered clearly determined [...] the dynamics developed by the accused [...]. In addition,
the appellant does not demonstrate the harm caused to him, since there is conclusive proof
that the offended parties delivered the merchandise against receipt of a check that was
delivered by the defendant [...].”
291. Regarding the second and third arguments, the Chamber found that the alleged
inconsistencies did not arise. It noted that “[w]ith regard to the witnesses that the
complainant claims were not heard and were essential, neither the accused in his material
defense nor his defense counsel objected to the rejection of the statements of F and M as
stated in the order opening the trial [...] since they were rejected as surplus to requirements.
Likewise, regarding K and S, the parties to the proceedings disregarded their statements [...].
[As for the omission of the order forms and purchase invoices [...] the Chamber considered
that the defense expressly disregarded them when it indicated, at the beginning of the
adversarial proceedings, that there were no objections to the evidence offered.”
292. Finally, with respect to the fourth argument, the Chamber noted that “[…] [t]hrough
a modification of the proven facts, the appellant seeks to reconstruct his own factual
framework […] This Chamber, within the framework of its function of overseeing the
legitimacy of the judgment and the correct application of the law to the proven facts, finds
that the challenged ruling includes, both in its factual description and in its legal reasoning,
accurate and sufficient elements of judgment, supported by legally valid evidence, which
provide sufficient basis to classify the conduct of the accused within the provisions of Articles
216.2 and 365 of the Criminal Code […].The deceitful ploy of which the victim was the target
[...], in order to achieve the delivery of the merchandise to the accused, was especially
evident; part of the latter's scheme was precisely that he was recommended by a company
to be present at the premises and to write the check […] and, using a false document, with
the purpose of continuing his scheme, he handed the victim a check knowing that it was
stolen [...]. The above summary undoubtedly confirms the defendant’s participation in the
facts, and, contrary to what the complainant claims, the conclusions of the judges are in
409
Cf. Decision 2012-00526 of the Third Chamber of March 22, 2012 (evidence file, folios 33705 and 33706).
91