Court deals setback to Mexico’s federal prosecutors, upholds ruling blocking trial of Ernesto Ruffo Appel

Mexico’s federal prosecutors suffered a setback when a collegiate court rejected their challenge to a ruling that blocked the opening of trial proceedings against former Baja California governor Ernesto Ruffo Appel.

The First Collegiate Court for Criminal Matters unanimously found the complaint from the Federal Attorney General’s Office unfounded. Prosecutors had argued that the suspension granted to Ruffo Appel prevented them from continuing the investigation and brought his criminal case to a standstill, harming public order and the public interest.

The dispute stems from a definitive suspension granted in August by Marcelino Niño Jiménez, head of the Fourth District Court for Criminal Matters in the State of Mexico. The suspension followed Ruffo Appel’s constitutional challenge to the order binding him over for prosecution on charges of organized crime and fuel smuggling, known locally as “fiscal huachicol.” It halted the intermediate stage of the trial until the constitutional case is decided.

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It is important to point out that the district judge again established the effects in the terms set out by the legislature, that is, by our senators and deputies

The collegiate court endorsed a draft ruling by Judge Jorge Mario Montellano Iturralde. He said the district judge had set the suspension’s effects according to the Amparo Law, rather than relying on broad arguments about public order and social interest.

“It is important to point out that the district judge again established the effects in the terms set out by the legislature, that is, by our senators and deputies,” Montellano Iturralde said. “Therefore, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is not challenging this decision on that basis, but is referring to generic terms and issues of social interest and public order, which the legislature has already considered. That is why we consider the grounds for appeal unfounded and are declaring the complaint unfounded, so the suspension remains in the terms established by the judge.”

The judge added that the complaint arose from an amparo case challenging a binding order issued by a judge at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Almoloya. Under the procedure described by the court, a challenge to such an order suspends the ordinary criminal process until a later stage.

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Therefore, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is not challenging this decision on that basis, but is referring to generic terms and issues of social interest and public order, which the legislature has already considered