Justice for Leonardo Morales

Background: To Kill a Child and Go Free

On October 17, 1999, a clear Sunday morning, Leonardo René Morales, his mother and his younger brother were on their way to church when another vehicle crossed the center-line and collided head one with their light pickup truck. The mother and brother sustained serious injuries but eventually recovered; however, seven-year old Leonardo Morales never recovered consciousness and died of severe head trauma. The other vehicle, assigned for official purposes by the government of Honduras to a Supreme Court Justice, Irma Violeta Suazo de Rosa, was driven by Patrick Douglass Guilbert Fortín, the fiancé of Suazo de Rosa´s daughter. By all accounts, including witnesses at the scene, police officers, examining medical personnel, and friends of Patrick Douglas, Mr. Fortin was in a state of serious intoxication at the time of the collision. Indeed, the blood alcohol test performed by a doctor after the accident revealed a .27g% level of blood toxicity, recognized worldwide as nearly three times total incapacitation! In the minutes following the collision, Mr. Fortin was observed making cell phone calls and emptying beer bottles at the side of the road. A friend of Mr. Fortin would later testify that he had been out all night drinking and partying.

Almost immediately, it appears, Magistrate Suazo de Rosa became involved, first by telephone, then at the scene, at the hospital and finally, throughout the judicial proceedings. Her presence was felt first when she successfully delayed the alcohol blood test of Fortín for six hours, knowing the alcohol blood level decreases significantly over time. Despite the six hour delay caused by her interference, Fortín's blood toxicity was still far beyond the level of intoxication. A judge found Fortín guilty of aggravated homicide, a charge carrying 5-8 years in prison; however, this same judge mysteriously reversed his decision a few months later, supposedly due to "new evidence," that is, a series of very inconsistent testimonies and questionable tests. Many believe that the Magistrate Suazo de Rosa was influential in getting his sentence changed. Following his release on probation, Fortín left the country and is believed to be living outside of Honduras.

AJS's Role: Facing Judicial Corruption

While the reckless driving of Fortín that caused the death of Leonardo Morales was certainly criminal, the corruption and flagrant misuse of the judicial system by Irma Suazo de Rosa were what called our attention to the case. AJS decided to get involved both to demand justice for the Morales family, as well as to demonstrate that there are visible consequences for judges who try to supercede the law.

The Association for a More Just Society (AJS)'s Honduran partner organization, ASJ, has used both the media and legal processes to try to bring justice for Leonardo Morales and to pressure the Honduran government to make changes in the legal and judicial system so that these abuses of justice are not repeated. ASJ staff have been working with the Morales family (Leonardo's father is also a lawyer) to put together a strong case against Fortín and Justice Irma Suazo, collecting supportive legal documents from the US and Costa Rica. In addition, ASJ was able to gain extensive and repeated coverage on several TV stations and radio stations. In collaboration with the International Justice Mission (IJM), ASJ's legal staff put together a letter and case summary for the president of the National Congress and other Honduran authorities asking them to investigate the Magistrate for obstruction of justice and to make the necessary changes so this sort of injustice does not happen again.

It is doubtful that the case against Fortín will go any further, since he has fled the country and cannot be tried. We requested an extradition order from the judge trying the case, but to no avail. However, while Fortín deserves to serve time in prison for his actions, our main focus was always to protest the misuse of the judicial system that had occurred.

In November of 2001, the Magistrate responsible for getting Fortín off the hook, Irma Suazo de Rosa, was nominated for the next Supreme Court. Her name appeared on a list of candidates from which the Judicial Nominating Committee and the National Congress would choose 15 people to make up the Supreme Court for a seven-year term. Given her past record of using her position in a corrupt way, her reelection to the Supreme Court would have been a mockery of justice. Fortunately, the Judicial Nominating Committee is required to consider accusations formally presented against any candidate in their decision-making.

ASJ and the Morales family decided to bring accusation against former Justice Irma Suazo, as well as other judges involved in the "highly irregular procedures" carried out in this case. For instance, the accusation referred to the fact that these judges dismissed the definitive alcohol level test taken after the accident, ignored questionable statements from expert witnesses--one of whom stated that a level of .27% alcohol in the blood did not prove intoxication, despite the fact that in his own book on forensic medicine, he writes that .15% is sufficient proof--inconsistent testimonies from Patrick Douglas and his friends who were accompanying him when the accident took place, and finally ignored common sense. One judge sustained that the transit authority statement only indicates that Douglas was "inattentive to transit conditions" and not intoxicated, disregarding the obvious conclusion that Douglas was inattentive to transit conditions because he probably had a blood alcohol content of over .40%. (A level of .08% is necessary for a DUI conviction in many US states).

ASJ published these accusations in the first edition of our virtual magazine, Revistazo.com. The topic of the magazine was more general, that is, it focused on the election of the next Supreme Court as a whole. It also included a list of other candidates who had been accused of corruption. In the end, the fifteen members of the new Supreme Court did not include a single candidate who had been objected to by ASJ or any other institutions!

While neither the offender nor the judge has been legally sanctioned, the Justice Irma Suazo has received a severe moral and public reprimand. Neither she nor her husband were elected to the new Supreme Court, and those close to her have commented to ASJ that this scandal has ruined her career--hopefully serving as a warning to others in the justice system. ASJ is now working to continue bringing good from this tragedy by working with other victims of drunk drivers to create a more severe and enforceable drunk driving legislation.

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