Precedent 70 authorized the police officer’s word to be sufficient for conviction; now, it needs to be consistent with other evidence
The (Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro) approved on Monday (Dec 9, 2024) the amendment to Summary 70 of the internal regulations, which allowed conviction based only on statements from police officers.
“The fact that oral evidence is restricted to statements from police authorities and their agents does not disqualify the conviction”said the text of the rule.
The change was requested by the Public Defender’s Office of Rio de Janeiro in 2018. The new summary was approved, by a majority of votes, in a trial session of the Special Body of the TJ-RJ in Monday (Dec 9).
The wording now still allows testimony as evidence for conviction, but as long as it is consistent with the other evidence presented in the process. Furthermore, the sentence must be substantiated.
“The fact that oral evidence is restricted to testimony from police authorities and their agents authorizes conviction when consistent with the evidence in the case and duly substantiated in the sentence”it says.
