President Laura Chinchilla’s cabinet pardoned farmer/veterinarian Bernal Arias, now 47, last week. It has raised a firestorm within two political parties as well a harsh criticism among citizens.
Arias was condemned in court in 2011 for the wounding of a 13-year-old boy who entered his San Carlos farm on March 30, 2009, apparently to steal lemons. A court sentenced Arias to 20 years in prison.
According to court testimony, Arias shot at the boy several times and hit him in the back. The court found Arias guilty of attempted murder. His sentence would have run until 2027.
But the veterinarian’s friend, Citizen Action Party (PAC) lawmaker Manrique Oviedo, came forward with a letter and a petition with 800 local residents’ signatures on behalf of Arias, presented to the cabinet a plea for pardon.
Oviedo’s successful plea got himself in hot water with his own party and a PAC inquiry attended by seven of the 11 PAC lawmakers was called. PAC founder Otton Solis, party founder, stood behind Oviedo, saying that if he had been president he would have pardoned Arias.
But Chinchilla herself termed the Oviedo move “irrelevant” in the cabinet deliberations. In all, nine prisoners received a pardon but public opinion focused on Arias. Costa Rica has no “stand your ground” law such as the one that has raised such a furor in Florida in the Trevin Martin case.
Self defense is of course recognized but is usually applied to clear cut cases of home invasions or equal force against armed assailants. Rather, the principle of “excessive force” is applied to cases of guns turned on an unarmed person.
But Minister of Justice Fernando Ferraro broke with the President in one aspect. The Oviedo letter was delivered directly to him and he said the letter had a large impact on the pardon consideration.
“What’s exceptional,” he said, “that I’ve only seen in this case is a note from the community with pages of of neighbors’ signatures.”
Chinchilla admitted that the history of Arias had a great deal to do with the pardon. “He lost his wife, his mother and is raising his children. And he was the sole support of the family,” she said.
Both Chinchilla and Communications Minister Francisco Chacon emphasized Aria’s state of mind. He was at work in the farm, they said, when he received a phone call that someone was attempting to break into his home at a time when his daughter was due home from school.
That the call was mistaken and the boy was merely stealing lemons was noted by both government officials. Chacon said he felt that, under the circumstances, “it was logical that he would try to defend his family and property.”
The fact is that defense of property is not a part of Costa Rican law when it comes to the doctrine of “excessive force” and that taking a life in defense of property is not legally justifiable.
But it is also a legal privilege of the Cabinet, meeting as the “Consejo del Gobierno” to grant a pardon where it considers that extenuating circumstances are present. Curiously, absent from the public debate has been the point of view of the boy’s family.
It is obvious that the lamentable incident will be a matter of public debate for a long time to come, with charges of political interference with justice on one side against sympathy with a father on the other.
One factor may have weighed against Arias during his trial: he attempted to leave the country before trial. Although there was no legal impediment, prosecutors scrambled to block his departure.
La Nacion interviewed the boy, Berney Araya, now 17, at work and found that surgeons did not remove the bullet from his body due to the risk of the operation.
Young Araya expressed disappointment with the President. “The resolution disrespects me,” he said, “offends me and ignores all the suffering I’ve experienced these years.” He said at times he feels that he is suffocating and finds it difficult to breathe.
The boy testified in court that he pleaded with Arias not to shoot him. Arias, the boy said, replied coldly, “Today you die,” and shot again. He said the Arias family knows of his physical plight but has never attempted to aid him in any way.
From Fijatevos.com