Ciudad Juarez.- Acts of torture, self-incrimination through threats and an unfounded arrest were some of the theories of the case presented yesterday before a Control Judge of the Bravos Judicial District in an attempt to free four men and two women accused of armed robbery of the D’Rayos Jewelry Store (in Plaza Juárez Mall) on September 1.
One of the accused, Edwin Omar MM, decided to testify to talk about alleged acts of torture and cruel treatment, of which even he and the public prosecutor present at the hearing were directly implicated, since “they were there and did nothing.”
However, a Control Judge linked the six defendants to trial for the crime of aggravated robbery, although she dismissed the charge of criminal association, and also linked them to the possession of weapons and cartridges for the exclusive use of the Mexican Army, but due to jurisdictional issues it was ordered that the federal authorities be informed of said charges so that they can do what is appropriate.
According to the background information provided by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the initial hearing in criminal case 5444/2024, on September 1 at around 1:20 p.m., four armed men arrived at the D’Rayos jewelry store in Plaza Juárez Mall (intersection of Tecnológico and Ejército Nacional avenues) and one of them fired a handgun toward the sky of the shopping center and toward the ground on several occasions with the aim of causing fear and coercing the store’s employees not to oppose the assault.
Once the threat was made, three people smashed the reinforced display cases of the jewelry store with sledgehammers, took all kinds of 10 and 14 carat gold and silver jewelry, and took a number of pieces that have not yet been specified by the establishment.
The assailants fled in a maroon 2000 Ford Windstar pickup truck that was later abandoned on the streets of the Infonavit Casas Grandes neighborhood, and there they boarded a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The State Public Security Secretariat, through video surveillance, was able to locate the Jeep at the intersection of Sonora and Benito Juárez streets in the Salvárcar neighborhood, and went to the spot to arrest Edwin Omar, Daniel, Francisco Javier, Roxane and Karen Paola. Juan Gabriel was arrested by arrest warrant days later.
Four weapons were found in the vehicle: a .40-caliber Glock 27 with seven live rounds, a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson Springfield with 10 live rounds, a 9-millimeter Luger with five live rounds, and a BSKA Century Armas rifle with five 7.62×39-caliber live rounds in one magazine and seven in another.
In addition, in the trunk, along with the rifle, was a black cloth bag with 68 .40 cartridges, 29 9-millimeter cartridges, 30 .223 cartridges, and 40 7.62×39 caliber cartridges.
Likewise, a backpack was found with three bags inside containing what is presumed to be the stolen 10 and 14 carat jewelry: 29 gold earrings, five silver rings, 42 gold rings, three gray chains, 11 bracelets, three gold pendants and one silver pendant, 15 bracelets, five gold chains, six gold bracelets, 29 silver bracelets and five more silver chains. In total, 154 pieces that, according to an appraiser from the District Attorney’s Office in the Northern Zone, have a value of one million 825 thousand 700 pesos on the market.
They claim innocence
The hearing began with the appointment of a private attorney for Juan Gabriel A., the only one of the defendants who was arrested by an arrest warrant after MM directly pointed him out as the one who orchestrated the entire robbery plan. With this appointment, two witnesses also arrived, the nephews of the accused, who indicated that their uncle was at home with them the whole time, that Sunday, September 1.
Edwin Omar MM continued his statement, saying that “they arrested me, beat me, put the bag on me, and we went to the state base and the torture continued, the buzz even in my private parts.”
“They called him ‘Coma’, a short guy, and those who arrested me also had alcohol on their breath. Coma told me that if I didn’t say it was me and sign my statement I would get into trouble. They (two representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office) were there, I told them they were beating me and they didn’t do anything,” he added. However, he refused to answer the questions of the social representation and left the witness stand.
The discussion then intensified during the logical-legal arguments to defend each one’s position. The two private defense attorneys –who represented Juan Gabriel A., Karla Paola SR and Francisco Javier RS– pointed out that MM’s statements should be dismissed because they had been extracted under torture, as well as those of a teenager who allegedly participated in the event, because although he declared so, criminal proceedings were never initiated against him nor was he guaranteed a defense during the interrogation before the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Likewise, it was insisted that the witnesses (employees of the jewelry store) at no time identified five of the six accused.
On the other hand, the public defender representing Daniel RT, Edwin Omar MM and Roxane SR argued that it was incredible that the state police let the teenager escape, who said he had left in a digital platform car after the robbery, from the Salvárcar neighborhood, and cited a thesis of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on the crime of organized crime to point out that it is not enough for the illegal acts to be committed together but that the planning of the events must take place continuously, with knowledge between the parties.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office described the defense’s strategy of suggesting that MM testify about the alleged torture of which she was a victim as disloyal and “very low,” and also defended the relevance of all her evidence.
After almost an hour of recess, the Control Judge decided not to link the case to the process for the crime of criminal association, giving the defense reason with this and with the dismissal of the teenager’s statement.
However, he brought charges against the six for the crime of aggravated robbery as stipulated in Article 208 Section III (for the amount stolen), and with the aggravating circumstances of having allegedly committed it in a group of two or more people (Article 211 Section VI) and by means of violence (Article 212 Section II).
In addition, he linked all of them except Juan Gabriel A. for the crimes of carrying firearms and possession of cartridges, under the provisions of articles 11 sections a, b, c, and f, whose punishments are indicated in articles 83 (all sections except the first) and 83 quat sections I and II.
Finally, the judge set a four-month period for the formal investigation into the case, during which time the six accused persons will remain in preventive detention.
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