was his death”; (4) the deceased was Manuela’s son, and (5) “by giving several versions that were logically and medically inconsistent and implausible, the defendant has suggested to the judge the possible reasons she had to try and hide the act she committed; first, she was aware of her pregnancy and that it was the result of infidelity because she was married; therefore, being able to choose between having the baby, taking care of it, feeding it and living for it as any biological mother would do, she chose a conduct that was anti-nature and against the laws to which we are all subject, and thus she waited until she had given birth to the baby to then dispose of him, throwing him in the septic tank.” The court also indicated that: Furthermore, when reviewing the different versions that the defendant gave to the different persons who interviewed her, such as, “that she was unaware of everything and perhaps the baby had come with the pain or with the diarrhea, and that she had fainted, or in the worst case that, in this situation of unconsciousness, it was someone else who had thrown the baby into the septic tank”; these statements are unbelievable and even improbable under the rules of acceptable human understanding, because the maternal instinct is to protect the child, and, generally, any complication in the delivery results in seeking immediate medical help or, at the very least, the help of close family members, not depriving a newborn of its life. However, in this case the defendant, in her efforts to dispose of the product of her pregnancy following the birth – because it was the result of infidelity – and given the paternal irresponsibility noted by her biological father, with full awareness, seeing the baby alive, deliberately sought the appropriate means and place to make it disappear, thus taking from her child […] the opportunity to live […] and, in this case, it is all the more reprehensible that this was an act of a mother towards her own child.166 84. When determining the sentence, the court indicated that “there is no legal reason that would justify a mother killing a child and, above all, a defenseless newborn, and it has been proved during the proceedings that the only reason that the defendant had was to avoid public censure or rejection by her husband for her infidelity”167 and that “[i]t is evident that the defendant has a very low level of education, growing up in the countryside, in a place with traditional standards; however, this situation does not justify such criminal behavior by the defendant; however, these factors are taken into account to impose the minimum punishment established for the crime that has been proved.”168 85. The judgment became final on August 26, 2008, because no appeal was filed against it.169 J. Situation of the presumed victim’s health while deprived of liberty 86. For most of the time that Manuela was in prison, she was confined in the San Miguel Prison.170 Judgment handed down by the Trial Court of San Francisco Gotera, department of Morazán, on August 11, 2008 (evidence file, folios 160, 164 and 165). 166 Judgment handed down by the Trial Court of San Francisco Gotera, department of Morazán, on August 11, 2008 (evidence file, folio 166). 167 Judgment handed down by the Trial Court of San Francisco Gotera, department of Morazán, on August 11, 2008 (evidence file, folio 167). 168 Cf. Notification of the final judgment to the director of the San Miguel Prison for Serving Sentences on August 26, 2008 (evidence file, folio 170). 169 According to the information in the case file, Manuela was in this prison from February 28, 2008, until her transfer, on September 10, 2009, to the Women’s Rehabilitation Center of Ilopango. Cf. Comparison of the dates of medical appointments between the logs and the medical record of the Rosales Hospital (evidence file, folio 3786); Magistrate’s Court of Cacaopera, department of Morazán, ruling of March 2, 2008 (evidence file, folio 69); communication of the Trial Judge of San Francisco Gotera, department of Morazán, addressed to the director of the 170 28