33. The State notes that the Public Prosecution Service for civil jurisdiction crimes in the town of Baborigame, Guadalupe y Calvo municipality, Chihuahua, began preliminary investigation 23/28 on the day of the incident, finding that Mirey Trueba Arciniega died as a result of the wound inflicted by Lt. Luis Raúl Morales Rodríguez. Furthermore, according to the death certificate issued at the local clinic in Baborigame, his death was caused by a gunshot wound. 34. The State argues that as a result of the investigation, the office of the Public Prosecution Service in charge decided, based on the evidence produced by the inquiry, to bring criminal charges against Lt. Col. (Infantry) Luis Raúl Morales Rodríguez, who was prosecuted and punished as the person responsible for the homicide of Mirey Trueba. Therefore, it considers that the investigation was effective. 35. With regard to the criminal proceeding, the State mentions that the Office of the Chihuahua State Attorney General for Justice surrendered jurisdiction to the military courts, in accordance with Article 13 of the Constitution and Article 57 of the Code of Military Justice. The military judge assigned to the Third Military Region in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, filed criminal proceeding 3779/98 against infantry Lt. Raúl Morales Rodríguez who, in a judgment dated September 22, 1998, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for the murder of Mirey Trueba, as well as being discharged and barred from the military for the same period of time. The State argues that that decision was reached promptly and effectively in accordance with the terms of Article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights10. Subsequently, after he filed an appeal, Lt. Morales Rodríguez’s sentence was reduced to 1 year, 11 months, and 15 days in prison, in a judgment handed down by the Supreme Military Tribunal on January 19, 2001,11 which left intact the possibility for anyone so legitimately entitled to institute civil proceedings in accordance with Article 436 of the Code of Military Justice. The State argues that the next of kin did not attempt an action for amparo or any other appeal, which meant that this judgment acquired the force of res judicata. 36. As to proportionality of the penalty, the Supreme Military Court decided to reduce the sentence on the grounds that infantry Lt. Col. Luis Raúl Morales Rodríguez took the life of Mirey Trueba Arciniega through misadventure (accidentally), in that he was unaware of the adverse circumstances surrounding his action: in other words, he did not carefully consider the consequences that his actions could bring about. It stated that because it was dark, Lt. Col. Morales could not see Mirey Trueba and so did not fire directly at him; but rather fired shots that were not aimed at a specific target. Nevertheless, his imprudent and rash behavior 10 Communication from the State of December 6, 2001. 11 Communication from the State of December 6, 2001. 8