Moro's sentence against Lula is 'complete legal garbage,' says analyst.

By Leonardo Avritzer, in Campinas Menu I just read Judge Sérgio Moro's ruling regarding former President Lula. I can confidently say that the document is complete legal garbage, produced with purely political intentions.

Regarding the triplex apartment, he doesn't advance an inch beyond the public prosecutor's report. He lists a series of contradictory statements in favor of Lula's ownership, and in the end ignores the opposing evidence, stating that ownership has been proven. Anyone who doubts this should take a look. It's deductive reasoning with the dismissal of evidence contrary to the court's opinion.

But the worst part is the section on money laundering. The crime of money laundering is described as a consequence of the Public Prosecutor's inability to prove ownership. Since ownership was not proven, the intent to conceal it is chosen, a line of reasoning more akin to courts of the National Socialist era than to the sound tradition of Anglo-Saxon empirical law.

The ruling makes no attempt to establish a link between official acts, actions by the presidency, or actions by Petrobras and the funds that would supposedly belong to Lula, as required by law.

But the real gem of the ruling is the judge's admission that there was no official act. He then cites some American rulings—none from the US Supreme Court, by the way—and a decision from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). Of course, as it suits him, he ignored the Supreme Federal Court's (STF) decision on the matter, which states that an official act is necessary. I transcribe it so that the incredulous can read it with their own eyes:

The sentence says

“866. In Brazilian jurisprudence, the issue is still the subject of debate, but the most recent rulings lean towards the view that the configuration of the crime of corruption does not depend on the practice of an official act and that there is no need for a precise determination of it. In this sense, see, for example, the decision of the Superior Court of Justice, authored by the eminent Minister Gurgel de Faria: “The crime of passive corruption is formal and does not require the effective practice of an official act, and the allegation that the functional act should be individualized and undoubtedly linked to the advantage received is inadmissible, since the trading of public office occurs diffusely, through a plurality of acts that are difficult to individualize.” (RHC 48400 – Rel.
Min. Gurgel de Faria – 5th Panel of the Superior Court of Justice – unanimous decision – judgment of March 17, 2017.

This is how the rule of law progresses in Brazil. A mediocre judge, with a mediocre sentence based on deduction or comparative law, ignoring the country's jurisprudence.

But in time, it's impossible not to notice the change in attitude of Moro and Lava Jato. He tries to defend himself against accusations of bias, attacks the court, and doesn't order preventive detention, leaving that to a higher court. Moro's days as a hero seem to be coming to an end. (From Leonardo Avritzer's Facebook)