Following a preliminary injunction by Toffoli, the judge closes the criminal case that made José Serra a defendant.
Judge Diego Paes Moreira, of the 6th Federal Court of São Paulo, made the decision after the president of the Supreme Court ruled in a preliminary injunction that the judge usurped the STF's jurisdiction by ordering searches and seizures against José Serra to investigate facts related to the politician's term in office.
Conjur - Judge Diego Paes Moreira, of the 6th Federal Court of São Paulo, closed the criminal case against Senator José Serra (PSDB-SP). The decision came less than a day after he accepted the complaint filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo against the politician.
The judge's decision sparked controversy because it did not take into account the previous decision by the president of the Supreme Federal Court, Minister Dias Toffoli, which had suspended the investigation hours earlier. The Supreme Court's decision was released at 16:56 PM. The decision by the judge of the 6th Federal Court of São Paulo was published at 18:04 PM.
The ruling that closes the criminal case against José Serra is under seal. In it, the judge of first instance alleges that the Supreme Federal Court did not explicitly determine that the criminal case in question would be covered by the suspension.
The magistrate also points out that, according to the PJe system, the decision to accept the indictment was issued at 6:04 PM, before he was aware of the Supreme Court's decision. According to him, it was only received by the clerk's office of the 18th Federal Court at 18:27 PM.
Abuses
Toffoli accepted the senator's defense argument that the judge usurped the Supreme Court's jurisdiction by ordering searches and seizures, including the breach of confidentiality, to investigate facts related to the parliamentarian's mandate. He ordered that "all seized assets and documents must be sealed and immediately secured, along with any mirror images or copies of their contents, if any were made."
The same reasoning was invoked by the minister to suspend the ongoing proceedings in the São Paulo Electoral Court. According to Toffoli, the two investigations, stemming from "Lava Jato" in São Paulo and the Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office, culminated in unacceptable abuses against the senator.
"The acceptance of the charges by the Federal Court, which occurred after the decision issued by the Supreme Court, only confirms, once again, the disregard for the Law and the Constitution by those who should be protecting them," said lawyers Flávia Rahal and Sepúlveda Pertence, representing Serra.
Questioned by ConJur on Wednesday night (July 29), legal experts stated that if the decision of the 6th Federal Court of São Paulo had been made after knowledge of the suspension of Minister Dias Toffoli, this could constitute abuse of authority.