Open Trials To Bring New Sense of Justice to Mexico. Friday, February 18, 2005 Posted: 1:07 PM EST (1807 GMT) MONTEMORELOS, Mexico (AP) -- In a quiet courtroom in northern Mexico, a drunk driving case is making history: 19-year-old Alejandro Santana is before a judge, fighting charges he was drunk and crashed his car, killing a passenger and leaving another person a quadriplegic. The case, which was nearing an end Friday, is the nation's first U.S.-style public trial, replacing a slow and secretive judicial process conducted on paper and moving Mexico a step closer toward reforms President Vicente Fox is seeking nationwide. So-called oral trials represent a dramatic departure from the current Mexican justice system in which defense lawyers and prosecutors investigate cases, interview witnesses, gather evidence and pass their findings in writing to judges, who review the bulky files before issuing a written verdict. Information is often kept secret, and corruption thrives. In June, state lawmakers in Nuevo Leon approved oral trials, requiring both sides to argue their cases publicly in all crimes involving property damage or where the defendant is accused of battery or manslaughter. They hope to eventually expand the program to all trials, and other Mexican states are looking at adopting similar practices.http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/02/18/mexico.justice.ap/index.html
Mexico holds first public trial