1. MEXICAN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AN OVERVIEW OF A COMPLEX AND CONTROVERSAL SUBJECT

2. INQUISATORIAL VS. ACCUSATORIAL. Inquisitorial is a system where the judge is the prosecutor, the proceeding is secret and the accused must answer questions that, at times, are obtained by moral or fiscal torture and offensive searching and inappropriate questioning..

3. ACCUSATORIAL Accusatorial is a system that has a public accusation, a public trial, and the judge is not the prosecutor, but an independent decision maker.

4. INQUISATORIAL? OR ACCUSATORIAL? Black’s Legal Dictionary, 8th Ed, p. 58. There is no precise understanding, however, of the institutions and arrangements denoted by these expressions. Citing 1 Ency. Of Crime and Justice, pp 24-25, Sanford H. Kadish, Ed. 1983.

5. Crime Complaint filed & Detention Preparatory Declaration Arrest Warrant & Detention Constitutional Time Period Judicial Investigation and evidence Conclusions Judgment & Final Hearing Penalty Preliminary Investigation Prosecutor In Presence of a Judge OVERVIEW--Primera Instancia

6. OVERVIEW--Segunda Instancia Filing the Appeal Introduction of Evidence & Hearing Judgment Amparo Recurso de apelacion Recurso de revocacion Recurso de de denegada apelacion Recurso de queja

7. COMMISSION OF THE CRIME Flagrante delito: when the individual is arrested at the time he is committing and offense. Quasi flagrante delito: when the individual is arrested immediately after the commission of an offense

8. NOTICE OF THE CRIME DENUNCIA QUERELLA

9. Preliminary Inquiry by Public Prosecutor —AVERIGUACION PREVIA The preliminary inquiry is supervised by the Public Prosecutor, who is entrusted with investigating the supposed crime to establish corpus delicti and probable responsibility with the goal of either instigating criminal proceedings or abandoning the case. The purpose of the investigation is to investigate the facts and to legally process the evidence gathered during the inquiry

10. INVESTIGATION GOALS Corpus delicti: The group of objective or external elements that constitute the material elements set forth in the legal description of the offence specifically set forth by criminal law. Probable guilt: “The authority must confirm whether there exists no lawful justification in favor of the suspect and that there is sufficient information to prove the suspect’s probable guilt.” Probable guilt can only be established if: 1. suspect acts with criminal intent (dolo) or criminal negligence (culpa). 2. There is no evidence that the defendant acted out of self-defense or under a state of compulsion (estado de necesidad) or was exercising a right or performing a duty or obligation

11. PRIMERA INSTANCIA Consignacion (similar to arraignment) WITHIN 72 HOURS AFTER A PERSON IS ARRESTED THE JUDGE MUST DECIDE IF THE CHARGES STAND OR WHETHER THERE IS NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO PROCEED WITH THE INSTRUCCION STAGE.

12. Requirements for an Arrest Warrant-- Auto de Aprehension Formal complaint Complaint must make reference to a crime that has a prison term The corpus delicti must be established The available facts must indicate that there is probable cause The Public Prosecutor must request the detention

13. The Constitutional Time Period An individual that has been arrested must appear before the a judge within 72 hours of his arrest (consignacion) to determine the nature of the detention by one of the following steps:  The judge formalizes the detention of the accused  The judge order the matter to proceed to the evidenary stage  The judge finds the evidence insufficient and releases the accused  The judge finds the facts to lack one or more elements of the crime charged and releases the accused and the file (expediente) is returned to the Public Prosecutor (con reservas de ley)

14. The Commitment Order Auto de Formal Prision The judge decides whether or not to commit the accused to pre-trial custody (prision preventiva) by means of an order that is substantiated and reasoned in law Requirements:  Preliminary declaration of the accused  Elements of the offense and corpus delicit are established  The offense carries a prison term  The responsibility of the accused is substantiated  There are no mitigating grounds

15. INSTRUCCION: EVIDENCE AND EVALUATION Preinstruccion Instruccion (Evidentiary stage) Juicio Final review of evidence, closing arguments and final judgment. Conclusiones. Prosecution and the defense offer their respective conclusions or arguments regarding law and the facts.

16. INSTRUCCION, CONT. Alegatos (final arguments of the parties) Sentencia of the Primera Instancia