Page Two by LieStoppers: Nifonged in Nicaragua: Volz Appeal Update

Tim Rogers of the Nica Times, an English language Nicaraguan newspaper, is reporting that the initial review of Eric Volz's appeal was expected to conclude last week. Based on an interview with Appellate Court Judge Roberto Rodríguez Baltodano, who has been conducting the preliminary review, Rogers indicates that a hearing for the defense attorneys and prosecutors to offer final arguments will follow shortly unless the remaining two Appellate Court Judges on the Volz panel disagree with Baltodano's conclusions. While a previous report in El Nuevo Diario indicated that Judge Baltadano was leaning toward annuling the trial court's verdict and ordering a new trial for Volz, the Nica Times article offers no direct indication of what the Appellate Court may decide other than a cryptic hint that Judge Baltodano appears to have acquired reasonable doubts about Volz's guilt.

Rogers writes:

Rodríguez, a veteran magistrate of the Granada Appeals Court, is heading the three-judge panel presiding over the high-profile appeal of U.S. citizen Eric Volz, who last February was found guilty of murdering his Nicaraguan ex-girlfriend and sentenced to 30 years in jail (NT, Feb. 23).
.
As of late May, the judge said he was 75% done reviewing the case and thinks he will finish with it completely by the first week in June.
.
At that point he will prepare his notes to be presented to the other two appellate judges. If there is no serious dissention among the other judges, the Appeals Court will then call upon the prosecution and defense to come before the appellate court for an oral audience to present final arguments.
.
The oral audience before the Appeals Court could be of the utmost importance to the Volz defense team, which will be allowed to present again their key witnesses whose testimony was dismissed by the first judge.
.
Those witnesses, the defense team argues, prove that Volz was in Managua at the time of the murder in San Juan del Sur, more than two hours away by car.
.
After hearing the final arguments, the three judges will then deliberate for five more days before handing down their final verdict, which Rodríguez expects will be ready sometime in June. The judges' verdict can be decided by a 2:1 split vote.
.
The Appeals Court could rule one of four ways, according to the judge. It could either confirm the sentence, in which case Volz and Chamorro would serve their 30-year prison sentences. It could revoke the sentence, in which case Volz and Chamorro would be let free. It could reform the sentence, in which case one of the two men could be let free, or one or both of the sentences reduced. Or, it could annul the entire case, in which case both men would be let free and another judge would be assigned to retry the murder.
.
Though Rodríguez stressed that the law prohibits him from opining on the case before officially handing down his verdict, there are parts of the case that admittedly have left him scratching his head.
.
That situation of doubt could ultimately favor Volz in a judicial system that, according to Article 2 of the Penal Processing Code, establishes that individuals are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
.
“In dubio pro reo,” Rodríguez said, remembering the phrase in Latin.