“They are going to let her go, but it will be a matter of time”: Javier Coello Trejo spoke about the case of Alejandra Cuevas

In September 2015, Federico Gertz Manero, brother of the current Mexican prosecutor, died. He was 82 years old and the cause of his death was the deterioration of his health. Alejandro Gertz blamed his brother's romantic partner, Laura Morán Servín, who at that time was 88 years old, 50 of whom he was with Federico. He charged her with homicide for omission of care. The lawsuit was considered inadmissible, but he did not give up. He even added that woman's daughters to the lawsuit. One was Laura, mother-in-law of the governor of the State of Mexico, Alfredo del Mazo. She disappeared from the case. The other is Alejandra Cuevas (69 years old). Javier Coello Trejo, the first lawyer to bring the prosecution, says there are no indications against it. Still, she's been in detention for 515 days.

“It is not proven (any element against it) and I don't understand how they included it in the investigation,” said Coello Trejo, consulted by Infobae. The lawyer recognized in the Mexican political circle, who even received from a former president the nickname 'iron prosecutor', was the first to work on that case, as Alejandro's defender. “Dr. Gertz Manero is right about defending his brother's rights, but what I don't think he's right about is having the one he has in jail.”

When he first filed that complaint, the only accused was Mrs. Laura Morán. And despite the fact that the accusation was dismissed on two occasions, the lawyer remains convinced that her responsibility was proven, so he filed an amparo, “that's when Dr. Gertz asked me to stop acting on the case.”

This Monday, Alejandra Cuevas came very close to regaining her freedom. The decision was (and continues) in the hands of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN). Of the 11 ministers that make up the highest body, 10 voted against a project that sought to return their case to the capital's courts. Five of them even spoke out for giving him a plain and plain protection, which meant his immediate freedom. But there was one vote missing for it to be a majority decision.

Thus, the case was stopped in court, along with the freedom of Cuevas. His children demanded house imprisonment. But the woman will continue to be held in Santa Martha Acatitla. “I think they are going to release her, but it will still be a matter of time,” said the lawyer, taking into account that the case will now be assigned to a new minister who will have to make a new draft for discussion, which can take weeks, especially because of the large number of issues that the Court has in the list to be resolved, “there is a lot that depends on the president of the Court and the minister who makes the project”.

Cuevas Morán was arrested on October 27, 2020 while traveling with her son Gonzalo on Paseo de la Reforma. There has been virtually no evidence against him. Coello Trejo even points out that he went to testify on Alejandra's specific case, where he made it clear that he had not found any indication of his guilt in the matter.

However, in February 2021, the Fourth Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Mexico City confirmed a formal prison order. He considered her “accessory guarantor” of Federico's health, that is, secondary responsible for the health of the deceased. But even the Court rejected that term on the grounds that it does not even exist. His mother, Laura, was the only one in charge of Federico's health. Nor can it be called a guarantor because, according to Mexican law, it was not in a position to be taken as such.

In mid-September, the Fifth District Judge of Amparo in Criminal Matters in Mexico City granted an amparo that rescinded the arrest warrants against Alejandra Cuevas and Laura Morán. The Attorney General's Office (FGR), led by Alejandro Gertz Manero, then challenged the amparo.

Then three magistrates of the First Collegiate Criminal Court of the First Circuit of Mexico City were going to decide whether the appeal proceeded or not. For practical purposes, there was a high possibility that Alejandra Cuevas would then regain her freedom... until, in an unexpected turn, the Mexican Court attracted the case last November by order of the Mexican prosecutor. The presiding minister, Arturo Zaldívar, argued that they decided to do so because, while the case was being decided in the courts, there was a danger of influences that did not give room to impartiality of justice. Last week an audio was leaked in which Gertz Manero, who already acknowledged the authenticity of the material, indicated that he had already had access to the Court's draft on the case , trying to put the scales in his favor by finding a way for the woman he points to as the one responsible for the death of his brother Federico, to stay in prison.

The case “did not merit reaching the Court,” Coello Trejo stressed, “the Court will decide, the criteria that were defined at the hearing are clear.”

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