Anyone watch the Eric Volz US Citizen Murder Charge in Nicaragua Dateline tonight?
 

Long and short of it...

27 year old guy goes down to Nicaragua to live. Gets into real-estate, starts a magazine...becomes fairly successful. His ex-gf (a Nicaraguan chick) gets brutally murdered 3 hours from where he was that day. 10 witnesses who are very creditable place him 3 hours away on top of a mountain of other evidence. Local judge throws it all out of court; he gets convicted of 30 years in Nicaraguan jail.

If you want to read about it you can here:

http://www.friendsofericvolz.com/

or for those that prefer video:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8YChhOHrFA4


This kid was by no means a saint in my opinion. I get the feeling that he's as cocky as can be and probably was down their banging the bejesus out of every 3rd world girl in sight.

And despite the fact that I've been in business w/ 3rd world countries for almost 5 years now and heard my fair share of horror stories....this still was pretty unbelievable. :Oh crap

This kid might have been a little prick; but seriously....no excuse for this crap. Embargo their ass back to civil war :mad:

This is why you should never live anywhere the leadership is dumber than you. .....oh wait, I forgot I live in the USA. :Oh crap

Kinda familiar with the case - and know there is an appeal due shortly.

On the witnesses defense - apparently the story the witnesses were giving could not be substantiated, but were conflicting in areas - and some were clearly lying.

Not familiar with the character of the defendant, tho he was more than stupid in attempting to buy people off.

Sheesh.... just had a look at the video - utter junk and listing items that just did not happen in that courtroom - and accompanied by "assurances" (no evidence) he was miles away. If that is the case - it should be easy to establish the fact and not have idiot witnesses trying to help by lying and the defendant trying to bribe people to either shut up or tell another version.

It'd hate to rely on that vid for a defense :winkwink: - but, he could still be innocent and can have his evidence etc reviewed in the appeal process.

I by no means consider myself an expert from watching dateline and reading a few websites :upsidedow BUT...

It just seems like an unbelievable amount of proof:

1) 10 People see him at his magazine office during the times of the murder

2) He meets with a 3rd party business client during the times of the murder at his office...a well respected Nicaraguan journalist

3) Murder happens at 3 roughly; he claims to have rented a car right afterwards. Car company is no claiming he rented it 2 hours before....yet somehow his credit card transaction date/time is when he says he rented it and phone calls leading up to the rental are in his timeline

4) This same car rental place claims he sent someone on his behalf to pick up the car so he wasnt actually "there". Yet his CC credit card slip is a ringer for his signature

5) His cell phone records show phone calls made during the 2-3 hour drive down the crime scene. Triangulation of cell phone towers shows a steady line at the exact time he said he headed down there

6) One witness places him at the crime scene. A town drunk who was originally the prime suspect but exchanged a testimony against Eric Volz for immunity against all charges

#1- #5 get thrown out the day of the verdict by the judge and she finds him guilty.

Like I said in the beginning. I dont even want to pretend to be an expert; but come on.

I would have to agree...I felt that video kind of lumped things together and thus came off as being heavily bias. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it said things went on in the court room that didn't....

The facts as I saw presented tonight and as I've read about from both the defense and 3rd parties seem very concrete as a whole. On the other side; there is not even one shred of evidence actually linking him.

I would go as far as to say that unless this is just 100% American media spin; you would have to be an absolute fool to think this guy had anything to do with killing this girl FIRST HAND. If you want to start up a conspiracy theory that he hired someone...by all means go for it; charge him for THAT CRIME; and actually prove something.

Legal systems like this and extreme corruption are prime examples why the 3rd world will always be the 3rd world :Oh crap

OK... if you vist or live in another country (and i have been to many).. you are at the mercy of their judicial system...

too many people think that when they go to another country that justice is blind...

many countries in this world are more fucked up than the US and dont have a clue about the meaning of due process let alone practice it...

when traveling or living in another country, you are at the mercy of "their" govt... not your homelands...

its a tough break for him and hopefully it will work out, but if you cant do the time.. then dont live abroad...

Oh, I am no "expert" either BW :winkwink:

Apparently a high amount of the "witness testimony" fell apart in the court - not particularly because the prosecution was active, but more when the judge asked simple questions which could not be answered - and these ended up conflicting with other potential defense witnesses. Basically.. there was a hell of a lot of lying going on among the witnesses. If they were think they were helping the guy - they made a real foul job of that :winkwink:

There are other items.. can't remember em all, but the conflict is beyond a level which would be acceptable. One was a cab driver claiming something for the defense - but the cab company were called and that cab driver was no where near where he claimed to be that day and (can't remember what paperwork), but if he was being truthful - it would have been reasonable to have records of him passing a certain location (signing in) - and his cab was not on that list :winkwink:

The defendant himself actually tried to bribe several people to give him an alabi - and probably the worst attempt was to offer the murdered girl's mother a few thousand dollars not to press the case/give evidence.

Bottom line - irrespective of guilt or otherwise - the case was amazingly crappy, simply because of the largish numbers of people lying and when asked reasonably simple questions - could not get the correct answers or a level of consistency in the answers to make them credible witnesses.

This may or may not be true....but lets put that on the sideline now.

How about the fact that there is no evidence tying him in? Shouldn't there be legit proof against them and THEN its up to the defense to pull it apart.


Based on the facts available publicly; i'm going to have to completely disagree with you on this one :2 cents:

Oddly ms - the judges I know of here (it's next door to Nicaragua) are FAR WORSE than any court in industrialized countries. :1orglaugh

They will bend over backwards for a defendant (often to what appears to be a silly degree), but, at the same time, are extremely pedantic, and will spend as long as need be listening to any presentation, then turning this inside out and upside down to make sure it stands up :1orglaugh

If ever there is an aura of "pressure" from any party (ie LE) - that can crumble a case very quickly. Hell.. it's even a criminal offense of LE to "appear oppressive" or raid a drug dealer while he's sleeping *lol*

I 100% agree with you about people not realizing that they are at the mercy of the legal system of the countries they travel to.

But I think its 100% wrong to take the attitude of "Well, he went and lived there so he was asking for it and now he has to accept the consequences."

AGAIN ...assuming that the facts are in fact how they are being presented....then its nothing short of a tragedy

Yes... there must be evidence trying him into the offense - else it's junk. Frankly, unless there was a total miscarriage of justice here (and kinda doubt that because of the judicial procedure) - there was evidence tying the defendant to the crime - tho, know that is contested on the video.

Na... the "facts" are sure not as presented BW - basically there are no "facts" or real evidence presented in the media reports - just conjecture - and it sure would be a tragedy if this person was innocent.

Just out of curiosity...where are you getting YOUR facts :upsidedow

Everything I can find anywhere restates the same stuff and I've been in 3rd world countries enough to know that their judicial process is nothing short of a complete joke. :helpme

You're honestly going to use their process as an argument for him being guilty? Thats just being idiotic at that point :(

What actual evidence exactly?

The information that has been released in the court docs were that there were 200 samples from the crime scene and no matches to him. The only evidence were scratches on his right shoulder blade that when you look carefully match up with his excuse that it was from carrying the casket (bruising).

AGAIN...I realize this is not an american court system. BUT, there is no loose evidence or hard evidence here. If there is, point me to it

A judicial process has nothing to do with an argument of guilt or otherwise - and I'm not saying that - or even arguing that.

This case was ongoing on TV here (Costa Rica) and reports of the actual murder and the followup investigation to the time of his arrest.

Can't speak for other countries - other than the EU or here, but the judicial process is not a problem, - in fact, it's more than fair. Currently have a case going on for ... almost a year now (with adjournments during that time). All judges have been ... actually very good at cutting to the core issue, but, least here, want to know ALL facts and this can slow the process up. But, at the end of the day, got total confidence they will produce a good result.

Again, Nicaragua is next door - there are differences in the judicial process, but fundamentally the same - based on Spanish law.

In the Nicargua case, there will have been judges on both the SOC and elsewhere where there was possible evidence. They also "monitor" the police and ensure all evidence is collected from various premises - and also play a role during an interview process. These reports from the "preliminary judges" are available to the court at the main trial (keeps either LE or defense from making up stories).

It appears a bit different to what we are normally used to - but it sure clears the wood from the trees - and quickly.

You asking me?? I was not in court and don't listen to crap media "evidence" or follow Nancy Grace expound bullshit over cases :winkwink:

If you seriously think a judge in Nicaragua is that dumb to return a guilty verdict when there is no evidence of guilt - you are grossly under-estimating the judiciary.

It never did depend on stupid media reports - it depends on the evidence produced by both the defense and prosecution. Stories by the defense after the event don't count.

This defendant will have his next day in court shortly - if he still cannot produce evidence to the appeal court - there is a problem.

PS Just looking at your "media reports"....

According to them there "should" be massive amounts of evidence to prove the innocence of the defendant - in fact, to a silly degree. Time will tell on the reality of that....

The difference is this is not US law and neither prosecution or defense have to parade themselves in front of cameras with their "verbal" - and the court only relies on actual evidence.

On the flip side - smell there is a possible defense in areas, - as long as lying witnesses stay the hell out or admit the truth. His witnesses did him no favors - but could have got him that guilty verdict.

I will agree to disagree on the legal processes of central american countries and 3rd world countries as a whole. You will never convince me otherwise. I've been around the block in these countries and have offices in a number of them. Its just a fact of life in these areas

I do not discount the possibilities of what you say though. I fully understand media spin. But what I'm having problems with is that there is no record anywhere to speak of (that I can find) of these discrepancies that you are referring to. Point me in the right direction. If there is a valid other side to this I'd love to hear it

You are right. With the appeal process probably being complete within the next 10 days or so it will be interesting to see what comes of this

***BOOKMARK THREAD*** :winkwink:

You obviously have your opinions on "3rd world countries". I have no idea about these countries unless I have spent some time in them - and as far as their laws are concerned - I prefer to have some experience of the laws before offering *any* opinion. Grouping all countries and saying it is a "fact of life" is just absurd.

The legal system here is actually far more refined than in many other countries - including the US. Simple reason is they had more time to do this and operated it for centuries based on old Euro law (in this case Spanish law).

Nicaragua is much the same, - but is certainly not near the stability level of Costa Rica (you may remember the usual "US wars" there), but has rapidly changed in many areas and now showing great potential. That said, the legal system is very much the same and very fair allowance given in things such as criminal trials. It actually takes a lot of effort and "real evidence" to obtain a criminal conviction (same as Costa Rica) and both the quality/experience of judges is not an issue. Judges are not elected on a popularity poll, but on a longish track record of legal experience and... well, they know a liar when they see one - they are not stupid :-) Judges can also examine a witness to extract any further detail a prosecution or defense may not wish to discuss - or witness credibility. Bottom line - crap witnesses don't work :-)


Want my "opinion"?? :-) We know nothing about the actual evidence - neither does the media. The parties to "evidence" are the prosecution, defense and the court - nobody else. We can give our "opinions" on what has been reported - but that's the limit. The judge did give her summary of the case at the time of trial, - she has her reasons, and if these are grossly inaccurate or unfair, this will surface at appeal and obviously help the defendant.

Simple example... it's easy for anyone to say whatever they like in court - that does not count. What counts is hardcore evidence. OK.. Mentioned the case I'm involved in now - it's not a criminal matter, but... hoping the final decision of the court will result in enabling follow-on criminal prosecution. In this instance - tho I may have had a conversation with an individual who proposed a fraud - that is totally inadequate as "evidence". It's one person's word against the other. Similarly, if, eg... proof of payment arose as an issue... the court could not give a damn about a bank statement showing the amount - they want a notorized copy of the actual check - not some wannabee evidence :-)

In the trial for murder - listening to media reports is kinda useless, - simply because they will not get down to the actual detail of evidence, - but can speculate on this and that etc. Media is not a court - they are not paid to come to any verdict - a judge is trained and paid to do this.

Bottom line... it's irrelevant what we think, what Dateline thinks, what the defense fund or supporters of the defendant say - none of them are either qualified and simply give "opinions".

I know and understand there is a tendency to have media trials in the US and have parties commenting on alleged evidence which may suit their case - and plenty of Ms Grace etc. Most countries do not have that scenario - and here is the same. There are no trials by media or "commenting" on cases. What there is can be straight reporting of court events - without opinions.

I think you will find that this defendant will have a good opportunity to present and additional defense evidence - and be able to contest the trial judge logic and verdict. This is treated seriously and there will be more than one appeal court judge for the presentation.

The fact that a friend of the victim called Eric Volz on his cell phone, to let him know of the murder... and the cell phone tower records clearly indicate this call was taken at a location 2 hours away from the murder... is about as cut and dry as it gets. Not too mention the cell tower records indicate the whereabouts of Eric the entire day, being away from the crime scene.

Eric got the gringo treatment to say the least.

remind me not to get involved with a ho from Nicaragua.

this calls for operation Dinner Out.

Senorita Jiménez was no "ho" - she was a young girl who was raped and strangled until she died. Either way - a "ho" has no "privileges" to die this way.

It's all speculation, but a followup to Mr Volz's trial is that the Corte Suprema de Justicia reviewed evidence in not only Mr Volz's case but in serveral other cases handled by the same judge and they considered the evidence presented in each case and the decision of the judge was appropriate. It would also appear that the general concensus from several other legal "experts" (not in Nicaragua), that the judge was open-minded and took account of all facts presented.

The failing may be that Mr Volz elected to have a trial in this format with the obvious hope that he stood a better chance of a not guilty verdict. The weak aspect of this option is that it was necessary to product actual evidence and this was insufficient to have credibility. Again speculation, and can't say if this was introduced in court, but there apparently was a background of violence towards Senorita Jiménez and followups after the murder to bribe serveral people. The alleged cellphone evidence was introduced at the trial, but, along with several items of other evidence, too weak to have credibility.

If there is a "fault" in justice for Mr Volz, that appears to be with his evidence which was not of a standard which would gain his release. If this man is, in fact, innocent - he seriously needs to produce actual evidence which discredits all prosecution and forensic data and explain why he felt the need to attempt to bribe people (or discredit the evidence provided by these witnesses). His track record of violence with the victim is obviously not evidence that he murdered her, but does not help his case. Mr Voltz seriously needs to "come clean" and be transparent with an experienced lawyer.

If he is innocent - this is a travesty of justice and no person needs to have their life ruined for a period of 30 years while obviously meaning that the killer of Senorita Jiménez continues to walk.

Here's a clip of the usual YouTube crap - the only relevent part is the judge's comments (the rest is hyperventilation and not evidence)....

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sSo3sb73CZY