Supreme Court ruling on JBS plea bargaining testimony put off again

After a third hearing on Wednesday (June 28), the Supreme Court (STF) remains to reach a final ruling on the validity of the plea bargaining testimonies from JBS meatpacking giant and on whether Justice Edson Fachin should continue to be in charge of the plea bargains at the Supreme Court. So far, the justices have ruled 9–1 to maintain them under the oversight of  Edson Fachin and his authority to admit plea bargaining testimonies as evidence. The trial resumes at 2 pm on Thursday (29).

Despite agreement among majority of Supreme Court members, there was fierce debate and the hearing was lengthy. Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Luís Roberto Barroso, Rosa Weber, Luiz Fux, Dias Toffoli, Ricardo Lewandowski, Marco Aurélio, and Celso de Mello agreed with Fachin that JBS's plea bargain testimonies were valid and should be admitted as evidence. Chief Justice Cármen Lúcia is the only member of the Supreme Court that remains left to hand down her opinion.

There is a chance the current ruling result (9–1) could still change if justices overturn their opinions.

Dissent

Although Gilmar Mendes ruled Fachin should continue to oversee JBS proceedings, he said the court should be able to reconsider plea bargaining deals with the Prosecutor-General's Office if it holds them to be illegal.

Moreover, Mendes said the plea bargaining witness was encouraged to turn in evidence in some of the approved deals, among other illegal features, so all deals should be examined by the court. Citing Operation Car Wash, he said “law enforcement should not resort to criminal actions to combat crime.”

The lawfulness of JBS's plea bargainig deals was challenged by the counsel of Reinaldo Azambuja,  governor of Mato Grosso do Sul state. He was one of the politicians implicated by JBS's executives.

Translated by Mayra Borges