A very complex jury promises to shake up the district of Palmital-SP, this Thursday, May 9th. The case involves a tragedy within a traditional farming family in the municipality, which occurred 17 years and 10 days ago. The defendant is the Palmitan native, Rafael Novac Garcia, aged 38, who was pronounced as the author of the firearm shots that resulted in the death of his uncle, Pedro Garcia da Silveira Júnior, aged 50, at around 4:40 am early morning of April 22, 2007.
Genesis of the Conflict
The crux of the conflict arose when Rafael, at 21 years of age, had a disagreement with his cousin, Pedro Garcia da Silveira Neto, 18 at the time, who was in the company of a friend named Carlos Mazza, at a rodeo venue, in Palmital. Pedro and Rafael’s parents were brothers.
According to the case records, after the fight, Rafael went to his house, where Pedro Neto and Carlos Mazza later passed, leading to a new argument, at which point Rafael entered the residence, came out with a revolver and shot the floor. .
According to the records, after the shooting, Pedro Neto called his father (the fatal victim), who arrived at the house of his brother, Aristides Garcia da Silveira Neto (father of the defendant).
According to the prosecution, when things calmed down, Rafael started shooting at his uncle, who was already inside his vehicle, a Jeep, fatally shooting him. Upon arrival at his brother’s house, the aforementioned Jeep, driven by Pedro Júnior, collided with the fence and his nephew’s car.
Controversies
Aristides Garcia da Silveira Neto, brother of the fatal victim and father of Rafael, still in the police investigation phase, assumed responsibility for the shooting, denying that the perpetrator was his son. The defense maintains that Aristides (who died in June 2020, a victim of Covid-19), was actually the perpetrator of the murder. It is believed that this will be the thesis of the lawyer, who presented grievances in special appeals, in an attempt to have Rafael escape from the popular jury, precisely with this allegation; However, the evidence collected in the files, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, contains evidence of authorship attributed to Rafael.
According to the process, the evidence produced does not support, with the necessary certainty, the versions supported by the defense, which made it unfeasible to consider the desired indictment or acquittal based on the thesis of self-defense of oneself and of a third party, with the pronouncement being maintained , by minister Luiz Fux, on December 14, 2021
Procedural imbroglio
The legal development of this case reveals a series of twists and complexities. The police investigation was closed three times, which generated a major procedural imbroglio. The case was judged at the last instance and the attempts to appeal, brought by the defense, were not accepted by the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) and, later, also by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
Supreme Court
The central issue that emerged during the process, that is, the father having committed himself to protect his son, was not understood by the Supreme Court, which, when sending the case back to the district of Palmital, asked the judge to open his eyes to the Public Ministry for a more in-depth analysis, which resulted in the formal accusation against Rafael Novac Garcia, who will be sitting in the dock tomorrow.
The complaint was received on January 27, 2014, however, the development of the appeals and challenges led to a disqualification that resulted in the categorization of the crime as simple homicide, and no longer with the qualification of the appeal that made it impossible for the victim to defend himself.
Actuations
The legal protagonists of this clash are judge Arnaldo Luiz Zasso Valderrama; the prosecutor, Marcos Fogaça; the defense lawyer, Paulo Celso Gonçalves Galhardo; the assistant prosecutor, Dany Patrick Koga, who are now preparing to present their arguments in court, in the search for elucidation of the facts and justice.
Family
The family of the fatal victim, who soon after the tragedy got rid of the assets they had in Palmital and moved to Rio de Janeiro, arrived in the city this Wednesday, 8th, to accompany the jury. A difficult situation for everyone in the same family, who hopes that justice will be done.
