Mexico’s new justice system is taking a long time to get its wheels in motion.
Case in point: This week, a judge handed down the first sentence delivered in an “oral trial” held in the Guadalajara metropolitan area – nine months after the first of the U.S.-style courtrooms opened in the city.
All previous trials had failed to reach the sentencing stage for one reason or another. Many of the cases floundered due to procedural errors caused by a lack of knowledge of the new justice system, sources say.
However, a man the media is only permitted to identify as Juan this week received a four-year prison sentence after being found guilty of attacking his sister-in-law with a screwdriver. Lawyers acting on his behalf said he believed she had used witchcraft to “put a spell” on his wife.
Seventeen witnesses appeared at the two-day trial, which garnered a full audience on the first day but was virtually empty the following day.
Although sentenced to four years in prison, Juan will probably not end up behind bars. He was already free on bail and may decide to appeal the verdict. In any case, the sentence contains a prevision that allows him to undertake “social work” instead of serving time. He is also obliged to pay damages to the victim and obey a court order to stay away from her and her children.
Part of the trial was held at the Centro de Justicia para las Mujeres (Justice Center for Women), which opened in February 2015, The courtroom at the center was set up with money from the Merida Initiative, the U.S. foreign aid package launched in 2008 to provide funding and support to disrupt the capacity of organized crime to operate in Mexico and institutionalize the country’s capacity to sustain the rule of law.