23 private individuals with no connection to the State, thus were José Raúl Argueta Rivas and Julio Ismael Ortiz Díaz found guilty.” With respect to due process, the State indicated that “the Judicial Branch, the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, [and] the National Civil Police took a great number of investigative and procedural steps, which provided not one, but several opportunities to make use of the remedies which the State puts at the disposition of every citizen.” Regarding the length of the investigations and judicial proceedings, the State expressed that “the investigations involve a series of previously established procedural phases, each of which has an appropriate time for fulfillment, which governed the State’s actions and had optimal results.” (State’s reply brief, p. 77) 76. In preparation for the analysis of the facts presented in the Commission’s application with respect to the alleged violation of the rights enshrined in Articles 5, 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention, this Tribunal will proceed to detail the facts related to the homicide of Ramón Mauricio García Prieto and some of the investigative actions taken by police and judicial authorities which occurred prior to the State’s recognition of the Court’s contentious jurisdiction. These facts will only be considered as antecedents, and therefore, no legal consequence will be based upon them. The homicide of Ramón Mauricio García Prieto and the initial investigations 77. The homicide of Ramón Mauricio García Prieto Giralt occurred on June 10, 1994 as he was going to the house of some relatives, accompanied by his wife Carmen Alicia Estrada and his son of five months, Ramón Mauricio García Prieto Estrada. Before arriving at his destination, he visited a bank where he withdrew a sum of money. Upon arriving at his relatives’ house, he was intercepted by two individuals carrying firearms who threatened him with death. Ramón Mauricio García Prieto was carrying his son of five months in his arms, and managed to pass him to his wife, while he asked the perpetrators to remain calm. One of the individuals grabbed a leather bag that Mr. García Prieto was carrying containing thirty thousand Colones that he had recently withdrawn from the bank, as well as a firearm. Afterwards, one of the perpetrators shot Ramón Mauricio García Prieto, who fell to the ground and lost consciousness. The two individuals fled in a vehicle driven by a third individual who was waiting for them a few meters from the scene of the crime. Mr. García Prieto was taken to the Women’s Hospital (“Hospital de la Mujer”), where he died.37 78. Following Ramón Mauricio García Prieto Giralt’s death, the State initiated two criminal proceedings and a prosecutorial investigation into the matter. a) Criminal Proceeding No. 262/94 undertaken before the Fifteenth Criminal Court of Peace of San Salvador38 37 Cf. testimony of Carmen Estrada de García Prieto, judicial file number 262/94 (exhibits to the application, exhibit 1, volume I, pages 11 to 13) and forensic recognition of the cadaver of Ramón Mauricio García Prieto Giralt of June 11, 1994, judicial file number 262/94 (exhibits to the application, exhibit 1, volume 1, pages 6 and 7). 38 This court had a series of different names during the development of the proceedings. Initially, its name was the “Fifteenth Criminal Court of Peace of San Salvador” (“Juzgado Décimo Quinto de Paz de San Salvador”), later the “Fifth Criminal Court” (“Juzgado Quinto de lo Penal”), and now the “Fifth Trial