Fernando Carrera, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty in the so-called “Pompeya Massacre,” was released on Wednesday from the Marcos Paz prison after the Supreme Court ruled that the case had to be reviewed and a new sentence had to be reached.
Carrera’s lawyer, Rocío Rodríguez López assured that the decision was made by the Criminal Court 14, the same one that ruled against him in 2007, after they took the time he spent in prison in preventive custody, before he had been sentenced.
The Court ordered Carrera “not to leave the City or the Buenos Aires province without previous authorization from the court. If he did, his release could be revoked and he could immediately be sent back to prison.”
According to the court ruling, Carrera was detained in January 25th 2005, he was indicted a month later and sentenced to 30 years in prison in a public trial that ended in June, 2007.
Back then, Carrera was accused of “aggravated theft, three counts of murder and causing serious injuries in two people.”
Even though the sentence was ratified by the Cassation Court in 2008, the Supreme Court decided yesterday that it had to be revoked and ordered the entire case to be revised.
Even though he has been released, the Criminal Court assured that Carrera remains indicted, therefore he has already been under arrest for seven years, four months and thirteen days, a sentence that we consider to be excessive.”
The incident for which Carrera was accused took place in January 25th, 2005, when Carrera was escaping from the police, who was chasing him after a robbery. Carrera drove his car into the Sáenz Av. the wrong way hitting several pedestrians and killing a mother and her six years old along with another woman.
The suspect and his Sawyer always insisted that the case was “a set up” since after confusing Carrera with a thief, they shot him eighteen times, hitting his body eight times.
The defence also argued that Carrera was running because he thought he was being robbed, and that he was unconscious after being shot when his car ran into several people, killing them.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald