Legalese: La Romana judge defends release of Venezuelans

Santo Domingo.- La Romana judge Aristilda Mercedes released outright the five Venezuelans caught with 369 bricks of cocaine becausethe prosecution "didn’t produce at the hearing" the official warrant authorizingthe search of the aircraft that brought the drug to the country.

"How could I judge whether the warrant to search the aircraftis the product of the authorization granted to the acting prosecutor," Mercedessaid, calling it a "historic" ruling.

Mercedes cited “procedural safeguards” in the various stagesof criminal proceedings, which leaves the judge no other choice than “toprotect these guarantees and moderate the actions of the other actors in theprocess.”

Resorting to extensive legalese, the La Romana Judge justifiedher ruling in the "case which pointed us to consider the request for the enforcement measure, as an instrumental part of ensuring the process in theother stages, in the knowledge that we based it on, ‘the principle ofseparation of functions."