The Dominican “Teflon Don”, Senator Felix Bautista and six of his associates have received ratification of the “there is no evidence” (no ha lugar) ruling from three of five judges in the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice who heard the case. Judges Frank Soto Sanchez, Juan Hirohito Reyes and Mariana Daneira Garcia rejected the appeal presented by Prosecutor General Francisco Dominguez Brito against the ruling issued on 27 March 2015 by judge Alejandro Moscoso Segarra who ordered the case closed for lack of sufficient evidence. The two votes against were from presiding judge Miriam German and judge Esther Agelan Casasnovas.
The decision covers Senator Bautista and other six defendants accused of corruption and money laundering. They are Bolivar Antonio Ventura Rodriguez, Carlos Manuel Ozoria Martinez, Soraida Antonia Abreu Martinez, Jose Elias Hernandez Garcia, Grisel Araceli Soler Pimentel and Bienvenido Apolinar Breton Medina.
Felix Bautista is a former director of the Office of Supervisory Engineers of the State of the Presidency. He is also the organizational secretary of the ruling PLD party.
The reading of the decision began at 2:30 pm yesterday, Wednesday 21 October 2015. Readers will recall that on 11 August there was a stalemate between four judges, which prevented the sentence from being emitted. This led the plenary of the Supreme Court to appoint a fifth judge, Mariana Daniera Garcia Castillo, to complete the quorum of the Second Chamber. The judges said that the prosecutors had not presented sufficient proof to link the defendants to any corruption or money laundering.
Senator Felix Bautista is known to have presented an asset statement of less than half a million pesos when he first entered the Fernandez government and prosecutors have proved he now has assets worth billions. Bautista hired several of the best penal lawyers in the country in order to prevent having to prove his innocence of corruption charges in court.
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito said the decision was disastrous and a blow to the fight against impunity. He commented that the ruling discredits the justice system and gives a bad example to society and all who hold public office. He said it is a major step back in the struggle against administrative corruption and misuse of public funds.
“This is a decision that goes very much against the national interest and what is established by the Constitution and laws. The appeal filed against the ruling that favored the group involved was very large with relevant and sufficient for the revocation and to send this case to trial,” he said.
Legal experts say the case was too all encompassing and based on fraud against the state, allowing for loopholes for the decision.
Presiding judge Miriam German Brito said that judge Moscoso Segarra omitted the crime of document forgery and use of forged public documents, both of which would have merited a court case. She specifically mentioned the case of his sworn statement of assets.