Supreme Court Disqualifies Ministers Who Sought Favors from Ex-Prosecutor Guerra, Case Stays in Limbo

Original article: Suprema inhabilita a ministros que pidieron favores al exfiscal Guerra y causa queda en suspenso

The two presiding ministers of the Seventh Chamber of the Court of Appeals in Santiago, Tomás Gray and José Pablo Rodríguez, formally acknowledged that they requested personal favors from former prosecutor Manuel Guerra to support their nominations for judicial positions. These same ministers were responsible for addressing the request to authorize Guerra’s formalization in the ongoing criminal case against him, which involves serious corruption offenses he allegedly committed as part of the Luis Hermosilla network.

In response, both the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the State Defense Council, and the plaintiff lawyers María Inés Horvitz and Mauricio Daza requested that ministers Gray and Rodríguez disqualify themselves from handling and resolving the request against Guerra, legally termed as a «chapter complaint.» Surprisingly, despite explicitly admitting to seeking favors from the former prosecutor for their personal benefit, the two ministers of the Santiago Court of Appeals declined to disqualify themselves, asserting they would maintain their «objectivity» in the case.

Following their refusal, the plaintiff lawyers Horvitz and Daza requested the Supreme Court to forcibly disqualify ministers Gray and Rodríguez in order to prevent them from handling the case, indicating that there were objective elements suggesting a lack of impartiality from these two judges. What raised eyebrows and sparked suspicion was that, while the evidence supporting the disqualification request was evident, neither the Public Prosecutor’s Office nor the State Defense Council joined the request made by lawyers Horvitz and Daza before the Supreme Court.

On Monday, December 15, the Supreme Court’s second chamber unanimously decided to accept the disqualification of ministers Gray and Rodríguez, based on the clear existence of a friendship between the questioned judges and ex-prosecutor Guerra Fuenzalida, in addition to having received significant benefits from the former prosecutor that suggest the gratitude of these Santiago ministers toward the accused.

As a result, the case was not addressed on Wednesday, December 17, as initially scheduled, since ministers Gray and Rodríguez were forcibly disqualified by the Supreme Court, leaving the matter pending for the following week to be heard and resolved by a new chamber of the capital’s court.

Regarding the importance of the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify ministers Gray and Rodríguez, plaintiff lawyer Mauricio Daza stated that «it is a very strong signal in favor of transparency and due process that the disqualification we proposed regarding ministers Gray and Rodríguez was accepted outright by the unanimous vote of the members of the second chamber of the Supreme Court. This is especially true after we asked the two ministers to voluntarily disqualify themselves, which they rejected. It is evident that ministers who have admitted to requesting favors from Manuel Guerra to benefit their judicial appointments are not in an objective position of impartiality to resolve the chapter complaint against that ex-prosecutor, who is accused of corruption.»

Concerning the future of the case, lawyer Daza asserted that «with this ruling, ministers Gray and Rodríguez cannot intervene in any way in the chapter complaint against Guerra. Since the case has been assigned to the Seventh Chamber of the Court of Santiago, where the disqualified ministers are presiding, it is necessary to integrate that chamber with two other ministers or to randomly assign a new chamber to handle and resolve the complaint.»

Regarding the potential reasons why neither the prosecutor’s office nor the State Defense Council requested the disqualification of ministers Gray and Rodríguez before the Supreme Court, despite having certified that they sought personal favors from the accused Manuel Guerra, lawyer Daza noted, «I don’t know what the reasons for that decision may have been. In any case, I am not surprised, given the inherent difficulties of such public institutions to make important decisions swiftly and effectively, there is usually a concern that if a forced disqualification of court ministers is requested, it could lead to tensions in a context where both the State Defense Council and the Public Prosecutor’s Office regularly litigate many cases before them. Ultimately, what is truly important is that, along with lawyer Horvitz, we decided to make this forced disqualification request to the Supreme Court, which was accepted outright by the unanimous vote of the criminal chamber of the highest court. Now we need to focus on getting the chapter complaint against Guerra Fuenzalida approved in all its parts before a chamber of the Court of Santiago that guarantees true objective impartiality, and from there, advance in the criminal case to clarify the truth about the serious acts of corruption that Manuel Guerra allegedly committed with Luis Hermosilla and obtain exemplary sanctions against all those responsible.»