STJ denies appeal to annul jury that sentenced Marcola to 152 years in prison

The 5th panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) unanimously denied the request for annulment of the jury that sentenced drug dealer Marco Willians Herbas Camacho, known as Marcola, to 152 years in prison.

The trial took place in the virtual plenary, in which the ministers did not debate the matter.

The defense claimed that the court's decision would be null and void because he was accused of seven homicides, but ended up being responsible for the deaths of eight people.

The murders occurred in 2001, during a rebellion at the São Paulo Detention House, Carandiru.

The STJ rejected the defense's allegation, clarifying that “strictly speaking, the pronouncement decision made a mere adjustment, because although the complaint referred to the practice of intentional homicide 'seven times', it described facts and named eight victims”.

The case's rapporteur, minister Reynaldo Soares da Fonseca, highlighted in the vote that the São Paulo Court of Justice had already rejected the defense's claim in November last year, arguing that the pronouncement decision made a “mere adjustment”.

“There is no need to speak of a violation of the principle of correlation, because, as we know, said principle states that the defendant defends himself against the facts narrated in the complaint and not against the legal capitulation inserted therein. Thus, having duly identified 8 victims in the accusatory initial, the indication of only 7 reveals a mere material error that can be corrected at any time”, pointed out the rapporteur.

Historic

Marcola is imprisoned in the Federal Penitentiary of Brasília. In March 2012, the 2nd Jury Court of São Paulo sentenced him to 160 years in prison for the deaths in Carandiru. He appealed and the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJSP) reduced the sentence to 152 years in prison.