42 e) the hearing scheduled to be held at the Juzgado de Ipueiras (Trial Court in and for Ipueiras) on April 24, 2002, for the purposes of hearing a witness residing outside the jurisdiction of Sobral, was canceled due to insufficient notice. A new hearing was scheduled for May 8, 2002, and once again no notice was served on defendant and his defense attorney. As a result, a third date, June 19, 2002, was scheduled to hear the testimony of Antonio AirtonMiranda.65 112(30) On December 9, 2002, the Tercera Sala del Juzgado de Sobral (Third Chamber of the Trial Court in and for Sobral) ordered that the investigation proceedings be closed and directed the parties to file their closing arguments, pursuant to Section 499 of the Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure.66 D.1) Amendment to accusation and current status of proceedings 112(31) On May 25, 2000, Prosecutors from the Centro de Apoyo Operacional de los Grupos Socialmente Discriminados de la Fiscalía General de Justicia (Center for the Operational Support of Socially Marginalized Groups under the Office of the State Attorney) sent an official letter to Sobral Attorney General ’s Office Prosecutor, in charge of the prosecution in the case concerning the death of Damião XimenesLopes, in which they stated that “the criminal conduct [of] Francisco Ivo [de] Vasconcelos and Marcelo Messias- Barros[;] of nurse Maria Verónica Miranda-Bezerra and [of] employee José Eliezer Silva- Procopio has been clearly established [from] the statements taken and […] the reports [produced in the case of Mr. Damião Ximenes-Lopes];” therefore, they pointed out that the amendment to the accusation, for the purpose of investigating the connection of these persons with the death of Damião Ximenes-Lopes, constituted an “institutional and legal imposition.”67 112(32) On December 12, 2000, Mrs. Irene Ximenes-Lopes Miranda requested the President of the Comisión de Ciudadanía y Derechos Humanos de la Asamblea Legislativa del estado del Ceará (Civil and Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly of the state of Ceará) to require the Judge of the Tercera Sala de Sobral (Third Chamber of the Trial Court in and for Sobral) the amendment to the accusation against the persons included in the official letter of the Prosecutors from 65 Cf. record of the criminal hearing held at the Juzgado de Ipueiras (Trial Court in and for Ipueiras) on April 24, 2002 (record of appendixes to the answer to the application, appendix I, volume II, page 2127); record of the criminal hearing held at the Juzgado de Ipueiras (Trial Court in and for Ipueiras) on May 8, 2002 (record of appendixes to the answer to the application, appendix I, volume II, page 2132); and statement made by Antonio Airton Miranda before the Juzgado de Ipueiras (Trial Court in and for Ipueiras) on June 19, 2002 (record of appendixes to the answer to the application, appendix I, volume II, pages 2143 to 2146). 66 Cf. order entered by the Tercera Sala del Juzgado de Sobral (Third Chamber of the Trial Court in and for Sobral) on December 9, 2002 (record of appendixes to the answer to the application, appendix I, volume II, page 2148). 67 Cf. official letter No.56/2000 sent by Prosecutors from the Centro de Apoyo Operacional de los Grupos Socialmente Discriminados de la Fiscalía General de Justicia (Center for the Operational Support of Socially Marginalized Groups under the Office of the State Attorney) to Sobral Attorney General’s Office Prosecutor on May 25, 2000 (record of appendixes to the answer to the application, appendix I, volume II, pages 1911 to 1925).