Maximiliano Lobos, Far-Right Lawyer, Found Guilty of Defamation Against Judge Urrutia

Original article: Cae Maximiliano Lobos, abogado de ultraderecha que difundió mentiras sobre el juez Urrutia: lo condenan por injurias y calumnias

The 7th Criminal Court of Santiago has issued a guilty verdict against lawyer Maximiliano Alfonso Lobos Lacoste. Known online as «Maxi Patriota» and a frequent panelist on shows like «Sin Filtros,» Lobos was found responsible for committing defamation and slander against Judge Daniel Urrutia Laubreaux, stemming from a series of posts made on social media in 2023.

The verdict was read on Tuesday afternoon in the court’s premises, led by Magistrate María Alejandra Cruz Vial.

This judicial act followed a simplified trial process, culminating a legal procedure that stretched over two years.

A Sentence That Disqualifies the Far-Right Lawyer

The court’s ruling established a total sentence of one year on probation, composed of two sentences of 41 days each. Additionally, Lobos must pay a financial penalty and is prohibited from practicing law for one year.

The judgment confirmed the defendant’s criminal responsibility, noting that the statements made constituted defamation and slander, after falsely attributing criminal conduct to the magistrate.

The Tweet Against Judge Urrutia That Triggered the Complaint

The events that led to this case date back to February 2023, when Maximiliano Lobos used his account on X (formerly Twitter) to launch a serious accusation against Judge Daniel Urrutia. In that post, the lawyer claimed that the magistrate had freed over a thousand criminals caught in the act throughout the country.

The message stated: «Judge Daniel Urrutia has released 1,425 criminals caught in the act. Individuals carrying drugs, rifles, machine guns, and pistols were apprehended in various parts of the country, but Daniel Urrutia sets them free.»

This assertion was the catalyst for the lawsuit filed in 2023 by the affected judge. During the trial, it was established not only that Lobos was the author of the message but also the extensive dissemination of it. The court ruled that this accusation was false and severely harmed the magistrate’s honor, implicitly accusing him of committing crimes while performing his duties.

A deeper analysis of the accusation revealed that Lobos’s post directly implicated him in committing 1,425 offenses of malfeasance, specifically under Article 224 number 4 of the Penal Code, which penalizes a judge who maliciously «fails to order the imprisonment of a person when there is legal cause for it, or does not carry out the ordered detention, when it is possible to do so.»

Delays in the Trial and Disastrous Defense

The path to the verdict was not straightforward. The judicial process was marked by a total of eight hearings being postponed, all requested by Lobos’s defense. This delaying strategy was a constant from the outset of the procedure, including preparatory hearings in 2024 and finally the trial in 2026.

One of the most controversial events recorded in this case occurred in May 2024, when the lawyer was detained in the El Monte commune of the Metropolitan Region where he resides, due to his repeated absence from court summons.

The situation reached a critical point in another hearing when the court declared the defendant’s defense abandoned after Lobos, acting as his own lawyer, took on his own representation.

However, the procedural situation became untenable when the presiding magistrate evaluated his performance and determined that Lobos lacked the minimum technical skills to adequately defend himself, resulting in another postponement.

«Given the necessity of effective technical defense, we have observed since the previous hearing that at first, he confused an essential stage […] then raised a witness challenge (nonexistent in criminal court) […] and disregarded basic tools like cross-examination. Therefore, the defense is declared abandoned, and a public or private criminal defender will be appointed,» the magistrate explained.

This situation made headlines on social media after attorney Hugo Gutiérrez shared a video that quickly went viral. In this clip, Gutiérrez summarized the situation in three acts that illustrated the trial’s trajectory: from the complaint filed by Urrutia against Lobos, to the political commentator’s decision to defend himself, culminating in the judge nullifying the trial due to Lobos’s lack of knowledge.

Maximiliano Lobos’s History of Controversies

Maximiliano Lobos is a lawyer graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and is known in the country for his far-right activism and frequent participation as a panelist on shows like «Sin Filtros.»

The former student of the National Institute is the author of the book «The Path of the Conservative» and in his statements advocates for private property, economic freedom, and the development of an efficient and small government. He also opposes abortion, communism, and radical environmentalism.

Although he founded the Confluence Movement for Chile and sought support to transform it into a political organization, he is a member of the Libertarian National Party (PNL), a far-right party founded in 2024 and led by Johannes Kaiser.

With over 60,000 followers on «X,» including the so-called patriots of the country, Lobos is recognized for his controversial comments.

In his posts, it is common to see him refer derogatorily to others, for example, when he called the national artist Mon Laferte a «piece of trash» over a music video from the Viña del Mar area.

He is also known for being a strong critic of institutions such as the Ministry of Women, which he claims «only encourages abortions, degeneracy, and divorces.»

Freedom of Expression vs. Protection of Honor

It is noteworthy that although Maximiliano Lobos himself acknowledged that Judge Urrutia offered him the chance to make «private apologies» as a condition to reach an agreement and withdraw the legal proceeding, the lawyer refused, arguing that he acted in the exercise of his freedom of expression.

The ruling from the 7th Criminal Court of Santiago not only penalized Lobos but also delved into the line separating freedom of expression from the commission of offenses against honor. In its ruling, the court reaffirmed the legal limits regarding false accusations that harm the honor of others.