The Public Prosecutor’s Office will be about to conclude the indictment against the only suspect in the alleged murder of Murtosa’s pregnant woman. Even without the discovery of the victim’s body, the case is expected to be judged by a jury later this year.
Next May 15th will be six months since the Judiciary Police arrested the man suspected of murdering Mónica Silva, whose body has not been discovered until today.
As a rule, if the defendant is detained under house arrest, the Public Prosecutor’s Office must file charges after half a year. Even so, jurisprudence offers some possibilities to extend this indicative period for completing the investigation.
Despite this, Correio da Manhã takes the case for granted. still this year using a jury court at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Jury court will help judges discover the truth
It’s nothing new, but this type of court, composed of four citizens drawn from the electoral rollis almost an exception to the rule.
Unlike the Anglo-Saxon regime, portrayed countless times in the cinema in which jurors only pronounce on the guilt or non-guilt of the accused, in Portugal the jury’s mission is to assist the group of judges in discovering the truth.
Jury trials have been required in homicide cases, especially those that are cruel and have a strong impact on a community. This is the case of Murtosa’s victim, who was seven months pregnant when she disappeared on October 3, 2023.
