the scene of the crime must be thoroughly investigated; autopsies and analysis of human
remains must be rigorously conducted by competent professionals and using the most
appropriate procedures.119
113.
Likewise, the Inter-American Court has held that in situations of violent deaths, investigators
must, at the very least, photograph the scene and any other physical evidence, and the body as it was found
and after it has been moved; gather and conserve the samples of blood, hair, fibers, threads and other clues;
examine the area to look for footprints or any other trace that could be used as evidence, and prepare a
detailed report with any observations regarding the scene, the measures taken by the investigators, and the
assigned storage of all the evidence collected.120 For its part, the Minnesota Protocol establishes, among other
obligations, that the area around the body must be closed off, and entry into it prohibited, except for the
investigator and his team.121
114.
Additionally, it has been established in the system of Inter-American jurisprudence that all
technical evidence must be gathered as required to determine whether or not the use of force was strictly
necessary and proportional, as well as to clarify discrepancies between opposing accounts of the
circumstances surrounding the use of force.122 In the case of García Ibarra et al v. Ecuador, the Inter-American
Court stressed the importance of expert witness technical reports to determine the plausibility of a
hypothesis that a fatality from the use of force was “accidental,”123 which could be useful in the case before us.
115.
After closely reviewing the investigations opened in the domestic arena, the Commission
notes that, as of the first stages of the investigation several situations arose, which expose a lack of due
diligence by the Mexican State.
116.
Firstly, the Commission notices that the authority, who had control over the scene of the
crime and of the evidence on the day of the death of Mirey Trueba and for a few days afterwards, before
jurisdiction was ceded to the military system, was the Office of the Public Prosecutor. Based on the facts, it is
evident that the Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted the first stage of the investigation, but the military
forces themselves then assessed the evidence gathered at the scene and were authorized to request further
evidence.
117.
Secondly, based on the evidence made available to the IACHR, the investigation proved to
not be exhaustive nor to exhibit the level of due diligence required to establish the legality of the use of deadly
force and the consequences thereof in criminal law. The Commission notes that, as it is acknowledged in the
judgment of the Military Supreme Court, the necessary technical ballistics tests were not conducted to
determine the trajectory of the shots fired by Lieutenant Coronel Morales, nor were any other technical tests
conducted to establish whether or not the account provided by the members of the military present at the
time was true. On the contrary, in the aforementioned ruling, the military authority only noted that the “angle
of the shot and the trajectory of the projectile were not possible to determine” without setting forth the
reasons for it not being possible to do so, when technical evidence exists that may be able to shed light on
these facts. Additionally, the Commission notes that even though there were differing versions of the facts
between Mirey Trueba’s companions and the members of the military that stopped their car, no additional
119
United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions.
IA Court of HR. Case of González et al (“Cotton Field”) v. Mexico. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of November 16, 2009. Series C No. 205, par. 301.
120
121 IA Court of HR. Case of González et al (“Cotton Field”) v. Mexico. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of November 16, 2009. Series C No. 205, par. 301.
122 See IA Court of HR. Case of the Landaeta Mejías Brothers et al v. Venezuela. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and
Costs. Judgment of August 27, 2014. Series C No. 281, pars. 234 – 236.
123 IA Court of HR. Case of García Ibarra et al v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
November 17, 2015. Series C No. 306. Par. 141.
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