JUSTICE BRAZILIAN STYLE

JUSTICE – BRAZILIAN STYLE
C 1998 Jojo

The event took place in Niteroi, capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro, circa 1953 – The trial of Sueli Gueiros for killing two men, severely wounding a third. The young man who was injured was Seuli’s ex-fiancé, the slain men his father and uncle.

This crime had all of Brazilian society agog. Everyone wanted to attend the trial, including myself. I got to the court house early, and there already was a long line-up, waiting for the doors to open so we could all swarm inside. The press were there in force and so were the radio reporters (there was no television at that time). People were talking animatedly about the case and debating the outcome. There seemed little doubts in their minds that Sueli would get convicted; after all, she’d shot her victims in cold blood, and what was worse, she’d done it in the police station, in full sight of police officers and the Police Captain himself. In fact, he’d tried very hard to prevent her from shooting, having grappled with her for the gun she’d pulled out of her purse.

The doors opened and we all forced our way inside until there were no more seats available in the public gallery located up a steep flight of stairs. The sound of people babbling was deafening.

I’d never been inside a court room before, and I looked around with great interest. It was a cold and cheerless room with bare white-washed walls, and crude wooden seats. A Brazilian flag hung on an affixed pole to the right of the judge’s bench. There was no air conditioning, and the crowded room soon became stiflingly hot, but no one left.

The jury had already been selected and sat in their appointed seats. The first thing that struck me was that they were all men. Looking closely at them I noticed that they were all fairly young men, between the ages of early twenties to late thirties. I pondered on this and wondered why there wasn’t a woman juror to be seen, but my question was answered when Sueli entered the court room, accompanied by her lawyers. The room fell silent as everyone’s eyes were rivetted on the tall, slim, stunningly beautiful woman with long black hair tumbling down her shoulders, large eyes which were downcast as she made her way to the defence bench. She was dressed in a black dress with a demure white lace collar. The intention, I’m sure, was to downplay her sultry, sensuality, portraying her as a modest woman who had been scorned and wronged.

I looked at the jurors – they were all to a man, ogling her with passion in their eyes.

Sueli’s family were well known in society for being volatile and violent. It was for this reason that her fiancé’s family had been aghast when their son had fallen wildly in love with her, and announced their betrothal.

The Judge walked into the courtroom and we all stood up respectfully until he told us we could sit down. Both lawyers made their opening statements. The prosecutor spoke first.

“Gentlemen of the jury. You are here today to try Sueli Gueiros for the heinous, despicable murder of two innocent men, and for seriously injuring the third. There is no defence for what she did – these murders were committed in full sight of police officers and the Police Captain himself. It was done in cold blood.”
He went on to tell the jury and hushed courtroom the details of the crime. Her fiancé’s family had strongly opposed their impending marriage and had brought great pressure to bear on him to break their engagement. He had finally succumbed to their wishes and when he’d told Sueli that he wasn’t going to marry her, she flew into a terrible rage.

“She demolished the entire living room,” he told us. “She threw dishes at him, tried to bash in his head with a chair, all the while screaming epithets and threats at him. The young man had to flee because there was no doubt in his mind that had he stayed, she would’ve killed him on the spot.” The prosecutor paused, allowing us to absorb this information. Taking a deep breath he continued.

“Everyone assumed that her rage would abate and that she’d eventually calm down, but such was not the case. One day she publicly stated that she intended to kill her fiancé, as well as his father and uncle, since these relatives were responsible for persuading her fiancé to turn his back on her.”

Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, the prosecutor wiped his sweaty brow. Turning once again to the jury, he proceeded with his opening remarks.

“When the Santos family heard about these threats, they were badly frightened, feeling sure she meant them. So Senhor Santos, his brother Marcello and Sergio, her ex-fiancé, made their way to the police station in order to lodge a complaint against her and request police protection. Somehow Sueli found out they were there, so minutes later, she also turned up.

When Police Captain Marcilio realized there was about to be an ugly scene, in order to avoid a public spectacle, he ushered everyone into his office, leaving the door open so that his men could enter quickly, if things became ugly.”

The prosecutor coughed. “Gentlemen, things got much worse than merely ugly. All parties concerned started screaming at each other. Tempers got hotter and hotter, and just as the other officers were wondering if they should rush in and break it up, Sueli opened her purse, and pulled out a gun, screaming that she intended to kill all three members of the Santos family.

The prosecutor put both hands on the railing and leaned towards the jury. “Police Captain Marcilio risked his life by rushing at her and grabbing her hand, trying to get her to let go of the gun. In the ensuing struggle, three shots were fired. The first one struck and instantly killed Senhor Santos, the second one mortally wounded his brother Marcello, and the third one seriously wounded his son Sergio. So gentlemen of the jury, this woman must be punished, and it’s up to you to bring in a verdict against her for pre-meditated, murder in the first degree.”

He sat down. Her defence lawyer got to his feet. His opening statements were intense and passionate. He portrayed his client as a poor, defenceless woman who’d been duped into believing that Sergio Santos was a man whose intentions were honourable, and so she’d given him her body, her heart and her soul.

“Sueli Gueiros was wronged,” he cried. “Wronged, deceived, and ruined by the man she’d imagined to be the love of her life, the man she’d given her trust, and by his interfering family. Yes, she’d been angry – but gentlemen of the jury – what decent, upstanding woman wouldn’t be having lost her virtue and purity to a cad who didn’t have the backbone to stand up to his family, and be loyal to her?”

I looked at the jury – several men nodded their heads, and others were gazing with compassion at the prisoner as she sat sobbing quietly, holding her handkerchief to her eyes, wiping away hot tears which poured down her velvety cheeks.

The defence attorney proceeded. “Gentlemen of the jury, Sueli went to that police station with murder in her heart. But would she have given in to this urge? That we shall never know.” There was an audible gasp in the courtroom. How on earth could this attorney make such a statement? We were soon to find out.

The Judge banged his gavel down several times. “Order, order in this courtroom. If there are anymore interruptions on the part of the public, I shall order this courtroom cleared.”

“Thank you your honour,” the defence lawyer said bowing politely to the judge. He paced back and forth beside the jurors benches. “No, gentlemen of the jury, we shall never know and the reason we shall never know, gentlemen of the jury is quite simple: when Sheriff Marcilio grappled with Sueli Gueiros in an attempt to take the gun away from her, it is impossible to determine which of them actually pulled the trigger!”

The gallery looked at each other in total disbelief. What kind of defence was that? She’d threatened to kill the three men; and two of them were dead and the other recovering in hospital.

How could anyone doubt that she’d fired all three shots?

Twelve male jurors could – and did. Sueli Gueiros got off scot free. Or did she? Two months later, her brother was brutally murdered and while it could never been proved that the Santos family were behind it, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were responsible.

It made sense to everyone. According to the norms of the day, it was a much more fitting punishment for Sueli to have to live with the knowledge that her violent actions against the Santos family had resulted in the death of a dearly loved brother, than to actually murder her.

I only attended one day of the trial and didn’t bother going to see the rest of it. The minute I’d seen the looks in the eyes of the twelve male jurors, I had no doubt they’d acquit her – providing her lawyer gave them even a shred of “reasonable doubt.” It proved to me that a truly beautiful woman can literally get away with murder.

*************