A health problem of the former president of the Provincial Court of Justice of Manabí Carlos Z. did not prevent the tenth day of the trial hearing within the Metastasis case from taking place, but it did force, for the safety of those attending, the president of the Trial Court, Mercedes Caicedo, to order that the defendant be taken to a separate room in the same building as the National Court of Justice (CNJ), in Quito, so that he could connect to the hearing via telematics.
This Thursday, October 31, the trial of 21 people accused of the crime of organized crime began for the tenth time. For the Prosecutor’s Office, all those accused carried out acts aimed at manipulating the justice system to favor the interests of drug trafficker Leandro Norero, who was murdered on October 3, 2022 at the Cotopaxi Deprivation of Liberty Center (CPL), in Latacunga.
Before the formal opening of the hearing, the defendant Carlos Z. raised his hand to explain his health situation. He explained to the Trial Court, made up of Caicedo and the national judges Marco Rodríguez and Pablo Loaiza, that he had woken up with a fever, a strong headache and a cough, and that he asked, for the safety of everyone, to be able to listen to the proceedings not where all the accused and their defense attorneys were, but to go to the seats where the public is located.
The trial in the Metastasis case was held on October 21 at the CNJ against 21 defendants accused of being direct perpetrators of organized crime.
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President Caicedo immediately ordered that medical personnel from the CNJ be present in the courtroom and assess the defendant’s health condition. At the same time, she ordered that, in order to guarantee the health safety of all those present and not allow the hearing to be delayed, a room be made available in the mezzanine of the National Court building so that the defendant can connect via telematics and continue listening to the evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office.
After the medical examination, Carlos Z.’s condition was confirmed to be stable, but it was added that he would be under observation. The defendant’s lawyer, Gabriela Moreira, announced that she will arrange for other types of tests to rule out any complications in the health of the former president of the Court of Manabí. Beyond these provisions, the defendant put on a mask and was taken to the designated room.
Once this incident was resolved, Judge Caicedo recalled that since yesterday the defense attorney for the defendant Kevin P. has not attended the courtroom nor answered calls. To guarantee the right to defense of the accused and prevent the hearing from being suspended, the president of the Court clarified that, since last Wednesday, a public defender will be in charge of the case that has to do with Kevin P.
In the procedural stage, Wilson Toainga, the acting Attorney General, continued to examine the expert report made by Lieutenant Jorge Collaguazo, an expert from the National Police who made two reports on the content found in the three phones belonging to Norero. On the ninth day, the Prosecutor’s Office presented the content of the forensic computer examination carried out on two other cell phones belonging to Norero.
Among the information presented by the expert was the conversation between Norero and alias Poro , in which they talk about payment and meetings with judges, especially with alias Momia , who would be the former criminal judge Ronald G., with the aim of reaching favorable decisions in proceedings that were related to the wife and sister of Norero, who was known in the world of organized crime with the alias of El Patrón .
In total, 20 videos and 74 images related to drug trafficking by land and sea were exposed last Wednesday. Also in the exposed images, high-caliber weapons, stacked bundles of bills, packed boxes, cargo ships on the high seas and screenshots of chats in which people discuss “merchandise” that could be sold abroad.
In addition, the reproduced material contains recordings of groups of people deprived of liberty within a CPL chanting the name of an organized crime group, as well as a certificate issued in Peru to Leandro Norero indicating that he entered an intensive care unit unconscious and with vital signs below normal.
Part of the prosecution’s evidence collection was the presentation of a report of the calls and contacts existing on Norero’s cell phone and made on the Threema application. The communications would have been with other detainees and addressed issues such as contract killings, kidnappings, payments to forensic experts, all with the aim of obtaining favorable rulings in the cases of their convenience.
Audio files were also exposed in which he refers to coordinated actions with Antonio C., alias Ben 10 , alleged leader of the organized gang called Los Chone Killers, and members of the National Police, who allegedly warned Norero about the elements that the investigating agents in his cases had.
Metastasis Case: Prosecutors expose images related to Fernando Villavicencio as part of their evidence evacuation
For the tenth day of the hearing in Metástasis, the expert Collaguazo continued with the presentation of his findings. This Thursday he started with the presentation of conversations between the users Ereabr99 and Anonymous or Owner, which would correspond to Norero. In the first dialogues, Owner asks Ereabr99 to keep some money that “El Serrano” will give him, that this cash will be used to pay “AB”, who would be a lawyer. Photos with cardboard and bags with bundles of dollars and audios explaining the situation to the Boss are attached to this conversation .
Norero explains that the “94” he asked him to keep are for the lawyer and that he will call him to give that money to Novi , alias of the defendant Xavier N., alleged coordinator of Norero’s network of influences.
Regardless of the existing holiday, the National Court announced that the hearing of Metastasis will take place this Friday, November 1, and will resume on Monday, November 4. There will be no activity in the case next weekend.
