Subsequently, on July 24, 2000, the said court issued a “review decision” indicating that “there are serious, grave, precise and concordant indications of guilt that entail criminal responsibility” for the crime of intentional homicide attributed to the four soldiers, and ordered the transfer of the case to the prosecutor of the Court Martial of First Instance.101 60. On July 28, 2000 the Court Martial prosecutor withdrew the indictment against the soldiers for the death of the seven victims and the injuries caused to another 6 persons, stipulating that the following mitigating circumstances existed: (a) the agents were under the orders of a superior; (b) they had information that a vehicle would be passing by with a consignment of drugs; (c) the vehicle tried to avoid the checkpoint; (d) the soldiers observed that a person was thrown out of the truck, which made them assume that something serious was taking place, and (e) the Haitians who were “being smuggled, […] some sitting and others lying wrapped in a tarpaulin, looked like packages.”102 61. On March 5, 2004, the Court Martial of First Instance delivered judgment in the military criminal proceedings against the agents involved in the events, in which Santiago Florentino Castilla and Bernardo de Aza Núñez were found guilty of murder, and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. In the same decision, Ferison LaGrange Vargas was found guilty of murder; however, due to “extensive mitigating circumstances,” he was sentenced to 30 days’ suspension from duty. Lastly, Johannes Paul Franco Camacho was found “not guilty of the facts,” and was absolved “of all criminal responsibility.”103 62. The same day, the soldiers Santiago Florentino Castilla, Bernardo Aza Núñez and Ferison LaGrange lodged appeals against the guilty verdict.104 By a ruling of May 27, 2005,105 the Joint Court Martial Appeals Court of the Armed Forces and the National Police determined as “correct and valid” the appeals filed by Bernardo de Aza Nuñez and Santiago Florentino Castilla against the judgment of March 5, 2004, and “amend[ed] the said judgment,” ordering the acquittal of the accused based on “articles 321 and 327 of the Dominican Criminal Code.”106 There is no evidence in the case file regarding the decision on the appeal filed by Ferison LaGrange Vargas. 101 Cf. Judicial assessment decision of the Joint Court Martial of First Instance of the Armed Forces and the National Police of July 24, 2000 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome V, folio 2756). This decision indicates that the soldiers were accused of violation articles 295 and 304(2) of the Dominican Criminal Code, and not of article 309 as proposed in the prosecutor’s originating order No. 15/2000. The decision also ordered that the commitment to prison against the four soldiers would continue until a final judgment had been delivered in the case. 102 Cf. Indictment No. 07 de 2000 of the prosecutor of the Joint Court Martial of First Instance of the Armed Forces and the National Police of July 28, 2000 (file of annexes to the merits report, tome I, folio 1722). 103 Cf. Ruling of the Joint Court Martial of First Instance of the Armed Forces and the National Police of March 5, 2004 (file of annexes to the merits report, tome II, folio 815). 104 Cf. Certifications of appeals filed by Santiago Florentino Castilla, Bernardo Aza Núñez and Ferison Lagrange against the guilty verdict of March 5, 2004 (file of annexes to the merits report, tome II, folios 816 to 818). 105 The Ruling is not dated, but the State, in its final written arguments, indicated that the said ruling was issued on May 27, 2005 (merits file, folio 918). 106 Cf. Ruling of the Joint Court Martial Appeals Court of the Armed Forces and the National Police (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome V, folio 2736). Also, articles 321 and 327 of the Criminal Code of the Dominican Republic in force at the time of the said decision stipulate the following: Article 321. The homicide, the injuries and the beating are excusable if the victim has previously offered provocation or threats or committed very violent acts. Article 327. (Repealed by Law 24-97 of January 28, 1997, http://www.suprema.gov.do/PDF_2/codigos/Codigo_Penal.pdf. 22 Gaceta Oficial 9945). [Available at