Judge Alexandre Magno de Resende Oliveira, from the 2nd Criminal Court of Belo Horizonte, acquitted the ten defendants accused of the contamination of Backer brand beers, which resulted in the death of ten people, in addition to seriously injuring 16 others, in 2020. An appeal is possible. 
Among the accused were three partners from Cervejaria Três Lobos, owner of the Backer brandin addition to technicians who worked in the unit where the beers were contaminated with toxic industrial inputs.
All were acquitted due to lack of evidence. The judge recognized the proven damage caused to the victims by the contamination, but said that the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG) was unable to demonstrate “who, individually, acted or omitted to act “criminally”.
In the case of the owner-partners, two were acquitted because they demonstrated that they did not have management power. The third partner, in turn, claimed that she only participated in decisions in the marketing area, and was therefore also innocent.
Six technicians had been accused of negligent homicide and bodily injury. The magistrate acquitted everyone on the grounds that they were just subordinates who followed orders.
The tenth defendant – accused of false testimony for lying about changing beer labels – was also acquitted based on “reasonable doubt”, according to the decision.
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Manufacturing defect
The judge pointed out that those really responsible for the contamination would be the brewery’s technical manager, who has since died, and the Industrial Operations manager, who was not reported by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the ruling, the contamination was caused by a manufacturing defect (hole) in the cooling tank, which allowed toxic substances used in cooling, such as monoethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, to leak into the beer. Once ingested, both cause nephronural syndrome, which attacks the kidneys and the brain simultaneously.
The judge stressed that the criminal acquittal of the accused does not exempt Cervejaria Três Lobos from civil liability. The company remains obliged to compensate the victims and repair the damage caused.
