|
Here's the gringo bar owner I was referring to above, wow, was 10 years ago, man time flies:
Judges set Roger Crouse free
By Saray RamÃrez Vindas
and Jay Brodell
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Roger Crouse, the Canadian bar owner who languished in prison for more than a year, went free Tuesday when judges found he was not guilty of murder.
This was the news telephoned to San José by his lawyers, Frank Paniagua and Marilyn Jiménez, minutes after the 1 p.m. decision in the Tribunals in Liberia.
In addition to being freed on the murder charge, Crouse also does not have to pay an indemnification to the family of the victim, Miguel Antonio Villegas Salguera, 36. Crouse said he shot the man Aug. 19, 2001, because the man came at him with a knife in Crouse´s Gaby´s Bar in Playas del Coco.
The three judges found that sufficient doubt existed that Crouse had done what the prosecution tried to show: kill the man in cold blood due to a falling out among crooks. A series of three public prosecutors believed in the murder theory enough to keep the case going and keep Crouse in jail in Liberia in what is know as "prisión preventiva."
The case began when the victim acted disorderly in Crouse´s bar. Crouse called police, and police took the man away. But officers of the Fuerza Pública inexplicably released the man two hours later, and the man, still drunk and affected by drugs, returned to the bar and confronted the Canadian.
Police told reporters they released the man because Crouse failed to file a formal complaint because he was still working at the bar. Others in Coco suggested that police were deferential to the man because he was a well-known local troublemaker and police feared him and his extended family.
Crouse also has reason to fear friends and relatives of the dead man. He has received death threats, and his waitress, who witnessed the crime, also said she had been threatened. The lawyers said that Crouse probably would not return to the Pacific beach town.
In addition to the bar, Crouse owned a limo
The bar has been burglarized multiple times, and the two vehicles he used have been vandalized. One was towed away. Acting in Crouse´s favor, the lawyers said, was the testimony of two persons from Coco who attested to his standing in the community and also the fact that he had a clean police record.
The key element that kept the public prosecutors interested in the case was that the dead man´s hand gripped the knife in death. Crouse said the man used the knife to threaten him. The prosecutors thought that the knife was placed in the hand by Crouse after the shooting, even though the man fell face forward and the knife was under the body.
However, Aug. 15 a pathologist for the Judicial Investigating Organization testified in what observers considered a favorable development for Crouse. The man said that body spasms due to violent death sometimes cause a person to grip and hold an object in the hand even though their body falls to the floor. The judges presumably agreed.
The pathologist was Jorge Aguilar Peréz of the Heredia forensic lab.
The Crouse case was watched closely by other foreign residents of Costa Rica because neither in Canada nor in the United States would he have been incarcerated, much less threatened with 8 to 12 years in prison upon conviction.
The waitress and two Canadian tourists were present when the shooting took place. They supported Crouse´s account. In addition, the victim told police when he was let go that he was going to return and kill Crouse. An autopsy showed that the man was drunk and had ingested drugs. The man also has a record of violence.
Crouse had bad luck choosing lawyers, which may have contributed to his continual imprisonment. He went through about five advocates before finding Paniagua and Ms. Jiménez.
As is allowed under Costa Rica law, the family of the dead man was seeking compensation in the six-figure range. At one time Crouse was offered bail for about $60,000, but he did not accept the offer that probably would have allowed him to flee the country.
Crouse returned to the Liberia jail to pick up his possessions after the decision, then he and his lawyers traveled to their office where they toasted the successful outcome of the case, said an aide.
Crouse was believed to be staying with friends but not in Coco for the night.
Did he get a bum deal? Was Roger Crouse treated badly because he was a North American?
Yes and no, Costa Rican judicial observers say.
Because he was a foreigner, judges did not want him to go free on bail because he might flee, said these observers. But they would have done the same to any foreigner, they contended.
And the natural conservatism of Costa Rican society is why the judicial process dragged on for a year, these same observers said. Murder is a serious crime and the legal process had to run its course, they said.
Curiously, the Crouse case was not followed by any other news outlet, Spanish or English. However, A.M. Costa Rica closely followed events, and directed the attention of judicial officials in San José to the case to insure Crouse would not be lost in the shuffle.
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
Calendar
Pura Vida 
