STJ upholds nullification of jury that convicted defendant for death of his girlfriend in Sertãozinho, SP; prosecutor's office is considering going to the STF

Junio ??Cesar Roza Giorgetti was convicted of the death of his girlfriend Vanessa Nobre Martins, in Sertãozinho (SP)). Collection/EP The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) maintained the annulment of the trial that sentenced the defendant accused of killing his girlfriend, Vanessa Nobres Martins, aged 19, in Sertãozinho (SP), in 2013, to 30 years in prison. The decision of the Fifth Panel was unanimous and maintains the determination that he be submitted to a new jury. For now, there is no date set for the new trial. In a note, the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJ-SP) informed that the files are awaiting the passing of the STJ ruling so that a new session of the Jury Court can be scheduled. The process is being carried out in secret. The Attorney General's Office, which presented the appeal rejected by the ministers, is considering taking the case to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The defense, which has maintained the defendant's innocence since the beginning of the case, claims to have new evidence about the case. Convicted in March 2023, Junio ??Cesar Roza Giorgetti has been free since the STJ's first decision, in June. According to the TJ-SP, provisional freedom was granted "in compliance with the order of the STJ". With the annulment, the conviction ceases to exist and he returns to the status of defendant, without guilt. Be part of the g1 Ribeirão e Franca channel on WhatsApp What the STJ decided The annulment was determined on June 9, 2026, in an individual decision by the reporting minister Ribeiro Dantas. The Attorney General's Office filed a regulatory appeal, an appeal that takes the rapporteur's decision for analysis by the panel. When judging this appeal, the Fifth Panel unanimously dismissed it and maintained the granting of habeas corpus that nullified the 2023 jury. In the ruling, the court records that there is no in-person witness or objective evidence linking the defendant to the crime, only confirmation of a troubled relationship with the victim. For the ministers, proof of a possible motive does not replace proof of authorship, which would make the conviction manifestly contrary to the evidence in the case. The decision also points out that the São Paulo Public Ministry itself expressed, in the second instance, in favor of the request for criminal review presented by the defense, for the same reasons accepted by the STJ. The court emphasizes that the annulment does not absolve the defendant: he must be submitted to a new jury, respecting the sovereignty of the verdicts. Vanessa Nobre Martins was killed at the age of 19 in Sertãozinho (SP) in 2013 Reproduction/EPTV READ MORE Prosecutor's Office appeals the decision that annulled the jury of a man convicted of killing his girlfriend in Sertãozinho, SP STJ annuls the trial of a man sentenced to 30 years in prison for the death of his girlfriend in Sertãozinho, SP Accused of killing his girlfriend in 2013 is sentenced to 30 years in prison in Sertãozinho, SP What the defense says The defense always claimed that there was no evidence nor eyewitness against the defendant. In June, when commenting on the Prosecutor's Office's appeal, lawyer Leonardo Resende Borges stated that the Public Prosecutor's Office itself had already recognized that the conviction was not sustainable. "It is not up to the Public Prosecutor's Office, after the Court decides exactly what he asked for, to change his mind, go back and try to overturn a decision that he himself helped to construct in the name of truth", he said at the time. The defense also stated that it had identified technical elements in the records that cast doubt on the cause of death and the violence attributed to the case, and said that it will present this material in the new trial. Relatives of Vanessa Nobre Martins regret the decision that annulled the trial of the former accused of homicide Luciano Tolentino/EPTV Third party confessed to the crime, says defense One of the arguments used by the defense and cited by the STJ is the existence, in the records, of a homeless man who sought out the Municipal Civil Guard (GCM) of Sertãozinho at the time of the crime and confessed to being responsible. According to the defense, he was taken to the place where he would have left the body, which was not found there, and was not taken to the police station. The process states that he died the same night, after the confession. For the reporting minister, this episode increased the uncertainty about who killed Vanessa. What the prosecution said When appealing the annulment, in June, prosecutor José Gaspar Figueiredo Menna Barreto stated that the trial could not have been annulled because the defense did not present a new fact capable of justifying the review of the process. He pointed out two problems in the decision: the breach of the jury's sovereignty and the lack of in-depth analysis of the evidence. The prosecutor also said that, even if the case goes to a new jury, he will ask for a conviction based on the evidence already presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office. Remember the case Vanessa was found dead on the afternoon of September 30, 2013. According to the Military Police, the body was seen by residents in a stream in Cohab III and recognized by family members ten days after the young woman was reported missing. During this period, relatives and friends used a sound car and asked for help from the authorities to try to locate her. The report from the Legal Medical Institute (IML) indicated that Vanessa was asphyxiated and her body was mutilated before being thrown into the stream. Throughout the investigation, the Civil Police raised evidence that, the day before the disappearance, the boyfriend picked the young woman up in a car from the supermarket where she worked, around 7pm, and took her home. According to the investigation, the two fought and he sent the girl away at around 9:30 pm. A witness stated that, before leaving, Vanessa said she was going to a concert hall. After that, she was not seen again. Arrested in October 2013, the then suspect obtained habeas corpus the following month and was released until 2023, when he was convicted by the jury and returned to prison. See more news from the region on g1 Ribeirão Preto e Franca