Why does the penalty for running over and causing death not exceed 8 years in prison in Peru?

The specialist recalled that it is up to the Public Ministry (MP) to qualify the facts and classify the crime, in this case as a crime against life, body and health, in the form of aggravated manslaughter for the deaths of Christian Agustín Buitrón Aguirre and Joseph Giancarlo Huashuayo Tenorio, and in the modality of aggravated negligent injuries to the detriment of Luis Miguel Vega Palacio and Vilma Gamarra Tambohuasco.

Second, he explains, the judge imposes the sentence or sanction, according to certain criteria, “to see if the highest penalty applies, the lowest, or if it moves in the middle”.

However, What penalties does the Criminal Code establish for these crimes?. the penalty for aggravated manslaughter, recalled Calderón, goes from 4 years to 8 years in prisonand in the case of aggravated negligent injuries the penalty is 4 to 6 years. The MP had requested 8 years in prison for Melisa González; however, the PJ decided with another criterion and imposed 6 years. The penalista also explained an additional criterion of the room.

“The Judiciary, under Cassation 400 of 2018, establishes a different formula in which it is necessary to add rather a quarter of the major penalty to the minor penalty, therefore it considered that the minimum penalty would be 6 years and the maximum 10 years, that is why the minimum sentence was imposed”, he points out.

What extenuating circumstances did the court take into account? The PJ argued that he took into account, as mitigating factors to impose the sentence, that the accused had no record and that “has reached judicial settlements with almost all the aggrieved, from which it can be inferred that it is repairing the damage caused”.

“Therefore, it is appropriate that the penalty be graduated within the lower third […] being that the lower third fluctuates between 6 years and 7 years 4 months“, it reads.

Last Thursday, the MP appealed the 6-year sentence before the Second Traffic Court of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima, which must now decide whether to confirm this sentence or accept the 8-year request from the prosecution.

Should the penalties be higher in these cases?

Liliana Calderón considers that “it is always risky to ask for an increase in the sentence”, for a question of proportionality.

“It is unfortunate what has happened, I would not want to be in the place of the bereaved, I am very sorry for the situation they are going through, but Unfortunately, since these are criminal offenses, it would not be consistent, within the framework of the entire Penal Code, to increase the penalties, when there are other crimes that have lesser penalties. would not be proportional“, mentions.

Along these lines, he explains that “for the crime of simple intentional homicide, that is to say with intent, the penalty ranges from 6 years to 20 years, and therefore the manslaughter clearly would have to be well below”.

Can this case be compared to that of Jhon Kelvin?

The penalist was also consulted about the comments of people on social networks, that compared the sentence of Melisa González with that of the singer known as Jhon Kelvin, sentenced to 21 years in prison for injuries and rape to the detriment of his wife.

Calderón considered that people are wrong when they do “a false comparison” among these cases and minimize crimes such as injuries and rape, which “they are very serious, malicious, that is to say intentional”.

“In the case of this singer, he is convicted of very serious crimes, which are malicious and intentional.s”, underlines Calderón, and remarks that in the case of Melissa González, the sentence of 6 years obeys criteria such as proportionality and rationality. “Without it being understood that we are detracting from people’s lives”, he points out.

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