Ex-Chubut judge who kissed police killer acquitted of criminal charges

A judge from southern Argentina who lost her job after she was caught on CCTV kissing a previously imprisoned convict has been cleared of charges.

Former Comodoro Rivadavia judge Mariel Alejandra Suárez was acquitted last week after Chubut judge Marcelo Nieto Di Biase ruled that her behavior – which he said was “ethically reprehensible” – was not a crime.

In 2021, Suárez found herself at the center of controversy when local media published video footage showing her kissing prisoner Cristian “Mai” Bustos, who is serving a sentence for the murder of a police officer, in a prison in Chubut province.

The court was dismissed not only for this lawsuit, but also for lying.

According to the Chubut Attorney General’s Office, “on December 30, 2021, as the criminal judge in charge of Comodoro Rivadavia, she was informed that a detained person was awaiting a hearing. She “fraudulently” called in sick.”

“For this reason, the hearing has been scheduled for the next day. “The Public Prosecutor’s Office points out that by lying about her state of health, she delayed proceedings that corresponded to her function as a criminal judge on duty,” the letter continues.

What led to the rejection was that it was discovered that Suárez was not sick that day, but “in Trelew prison, where he was visiting a prisoner for personal reasons.”

A decision was made to dismiss her and criminal proceedings were opened against her for abuse of office.

After analyzing the legal categories and alleged facts, Judge Nieto Di Biase concluded last week that “the judge’s conduct did not violate criminal law,” with the proviso that “no hearing was set that was subsequently affected by this conduct of.” Suárez was delayed and the hearing was final. “will take place the next day within the time limit established by law.”

“I consider the conduct of former criminal judge Mariel Suárez to be ethically questionable, but as is well known, she has already been impeached and removed from the bench,” the judge said.

Nieto Di Biase thus ruled out any crime and acquitted her, similar to the Judicial Ombudsman Gustavo Oyarzún, who questioned the accusation presented by the public prosecutor because it “did not contain any criminal act nor did it explain what law had been violated” .

On December 29, 2021, Suárez traveled to a prison on Nacional Ruta 3 between the towns of Trelew and Puerto Madryn to meet with inmate Bustos.

According to the judge, the purpose of the meeting was related to the development of a book she wanted to write, although prison officials saw the two in an intimate situation.

The judge denied kissing the prisoner and said the “illegally recorded” video was “manipulated.”

Bustos is serving a life sentence. He was convicted of two murders: of his nine-month-old son and of a local police officer. He was convicted of his son’s death in 2005, but escaped after learning of the verdict.

When confronted by police at his mother’s home four years later, in 2009, he opened fire with weapons, fatally killing 33-year-old police officer Leandro “Tito” Roberts and wounding another.

He was found guilty of the second death, escaped custody again and was recaptured while on the run in Chile in 2016.

Bustos was found guilty of Officer Roberts’ murder on December 10, 2021, in a unanimous verdict co-signed by Suárez and two other judges.

Suárez recommended that Bustos be given a minimum sentence, although he was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.

– TIMES/NA