In a chase, the police responded with shots, one of which hit Diego Cagliero in the chest. Photo: file.
A popular jury declared Two Buenos Aires police officers found guilty for the crime of musician Diego Caglierowho in May 2019 was shot dead during a chase in the Buenos Aires town of Martín Coronado, Tres de Febrero district, although for lesser crimes than those requested by the accusers, judicial sources reported Thursday.
The verdict came in late last night. after ten debate hearings, in the jury trial directed by Judge Marcelo José Machado, of the Oral Criminal Court (TOC) 1 of San Martín.
The definition reached with 10 votes out of 12 considered that the effective Rodrigo Canstatt should be sentenced for the crime of “culpable homicide” – that is to say without intention -, of Cagliero, and the other defendant, Sergio Montenegro, for “tempted homicide in excess of his duties” of the eight friends.
During the allegations this Wednesday, the prosecutor María Fernanda Billone, the lawyer for the victim, Fernando Sicilia, and the representatives of the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) had requested before the popular jury that the two police officers be sentenced as co-authors of an “aggravated homicide due to abuse of his functions”, which provides for a life sentence.
Meanwhile, the defenses had considered that it was a case of “legitimate defense” and, secondarily, they requested that the juries decide on an “excess in legitimate defense” or a “culpable homicide”, as happened in the case of the convicted Canstatt .
In it court will be held this Thursday the caesura hearing in which the prosecutionthe defense and the injured individual will ask Judge Machado to resolve the amount of the sentence that the two police officers found guilty by the popular jury must serve.
Trial for the crime of Diego Cagliero
A popular jury convicted the police officers Rodrigo Canstatt and Sergio Montenegro.
Canstatt was convicted of the crime of culpable homicide and Montenegro of attempted manslaughter in excess of the line of duty of the eight friends. pic.twitter.com/vzdHQefBFQ
— CELS (@CELS_Argentina) February 16, 2023
Dissatisfied with the legal classification chosen by the juries, from CELS they indicated in a thread of tweets that “during the ten hearings the brutality of the operation was verified: all the shots were fired by the police, in the van of the victims there was no weapons and the crime scene was altered to guarantee impunity”.
“The police officers fired at least thirteen times against the truck in which the eight young people were traveling. One of those shots killed Diego and another seriously injured Mauro Tedesco. The other six survived miraculously,” the statement said.
“Beyond the verdict, CELS will continue to accompany the victims and their families,” he added.
The musician’s crime
Diego Cagliero (30) was committed on May 19, 2019 when a A group of eight young people arrived in a van with the logo of the AYSA company at the “Día” supermarket. Located in Perón at 7300, Martín Coronado, Tres de Febrero district.
six of those boys they grabbed hamburgers and alcoholic drinks and wanted to leave without paying of the premises, which generated a discussion with the security personnel of the store on the sidewalk, for which they discarded part of the merchandise, but they took the alcohol.
According to the account of a watchman, one of the young men said “be careful, I’ll shoot you”, but at no time did any of the defendants display a firearm.
From the supermarket they called 911 and This is how a bolt operation and a persecution was mounted which culminated when several patrolmen from the 5th police station. Eufrasio Álvarez and the local Patrol Command intercepted the truck some 17 blocks away, at the corner of Campo de Mayo and Márquez avenue.
The policemen assured that they heard shots andThey repelled with shots, one of which hit Cagliero in the chest.
However, in the trial the experts from the Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA) They did not find evidence that there were shots towards the troops from inside the vehicle in which the victim was traveling.
