"Attention: Jonathan Vega, 'The Monster of Batán,' has just been convicted for attempted homicide. Justice has been served for Natalia Ponce," wrote lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella early this Friday morning on his Twitter account.
This comes after the conviction issued by a trial judge against the man found responsible for throwing glue and acid at the 35 year old woman. The deeds that took place on March 27th, 2015 left Ponce with severe chemical burns on her face and body.
With this decision, falls Vega's lawyer's defense, who wanted his client to be ruled unimpeachable (exempt from criminal responsibility), arguing that he suffered from schizophrenia and was therefore unable to measure the gravity of his actions.
"I ask myself if we stand before a man that had the intellectual capacity to rigorously discriminate his actions and his reality. And the answer is no, because he does not have the intellectual resources to be able to behave himself within de parameters that society expects from an individual. Furthermore, he has schizophrenia and consumes toxic substances. He has everything going against him," assured Vega's defense in the closing arguments of the trial.
His words had no effect and the judge determined that 'The Monster of Batán' is criminally responsible for the crime of attempted murder.
In a conversation with Semana.com, Abelardo De la Espriella, Natalia Ponce's lawyer assured that from the beginning, he was emphatic in pointing out that Jonathan Vega acted in a conscious manner because "a person that prepares a crime with months of anticipation, that hides his face, changes his name to gain access to the victim and proceeds to flee from the authorities, evidently is not unimpeachable."
He added: "The judge accepted this argument, and today, the weight of the law has come upon an individual the committed an abominable crime, that will forever mark the humanity of my beloved client."
Natalia's lawyer emphasized the judge's decision and manifested that these types of rulings "give us back our faith in justice."
The district attorney is asking for the maximum sentence against Vega, which would correspond to 37 years in prison. This same sentence is what Natalia Ponce and her family hope he will receive. Not withstanding, this decision will be left in the hands of the judge, and will be released to the public on the upcoming 8th of September at 5:00 p.m. in the Paloquemao courthouse in Bogotá.
Taken from Revista Semana.
