SCJ establishes evidentiary value attributable to photocopies can help build the judge's conviction 

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) reaffirmed the principle that, while photocopies do not constitute conclusive evidence, it is nonetheless true that their content may assist the judge in forming his or her conviction, provided that their weight is corroborated by other circumstances and evidence that have come to light during the course of the proceedings. 

In Judgment No. SCJ-SS-23-0154, dated January 31, 2023, the justices of the aforementioned Chamber held that in matters where there is freedom to present evidence, the judge has broad discretion to evaluate the evidence and draw conclusions from it. 

Regarding the assessment of evidence, “it should be noted that this Second Chamber has held that the judge best suited to rule on testimonial evidence is the one who, during the trial, upholds the principle of immediacy with respect to such evidence.”. 

The court's decision comes after it heard, on appeal, a case involving a charge of breach of trust brought against a lawyer and her mother in connection with the sale of a parcel of land, specifically regarding funds received but not turned over to the victim who had authorized the sale of the property. 

The aforementioned Article 408 of the Penal Code specifies that “the harm caused by breach of trust must be suffered by the owner, possessor, or holder who has entrusted or delivered to another, under one of the stipulated contracts, the items indicated in the aforementioned legal text, and that person misappropriates them by failing to fulfill their obligation to return them.”. 

In this regard, the judges of the Criminal Chamber—Francisco Antonio Jerez Mena (presiding), Nancy I. Salcedo Fernández, Fran Euclides Soto Sánchez, María G. Garabito Ramírez, and Francisco Antonio Ortega Polanco—dismissed the appeal against Criminal Judgment No. 216-2014, handed down by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the Judicial Department of San Pedro de Macorís on March 21, 2014—a decision that was appealed by the defendants after they were convicted both criminally and civilly for the offense in question. 

Access the ruling via the following link:  https://poderjudicial.gob.do/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SCJ-SS-23-0154.pdf 

Source