They say they were just doing their jobs when they shot Aaron Mariano dead in front of the Queen Street Police Station, but the court found that it was manslaughter and for that a BDF Private and Police Special Constable will each spend 10 years in jail. They were convicted two weeks ago and this morning Supreme Court Justice Troadio Gonzalez sentenced Private Giovanni Gutierrez to 10 years for manslaughter and Special Constable Dennis Palacio also to 10 years for abetment to manslaughter.
The two were convicted for the September 10th 2003 fatal shooting of Mariano.
Justice Gonzalez heard mitigation pleas on Friday. A high ranking member of the BDF spoke for Private Gutierrez saying that the conviction sets a bad precedent because soldiers are trained for jungle warfare and they aren't prepared to deal with civilians. Special Constable Palacio's Attorney said that while his client has previous convictions, none of them were within the past 4 years. In delivering his sentence today Justice Gonzalez said he was tempering justice with mercy because over the last 5 years there has been an increase in the sentence for manslaughter. The law allowed both men to sentenced to life in prison.
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