Jury acquits police officer accused of killing fighter Leandro Lo

The Jury Court acquitted by majority votes, this Friday (14), Lieutenant Henrique Otávio Oliveira Velozo, who was accused of killing the fighter Leandro Lo in 2022. Seven jurors, five women and two men, were part of the jury panel. The verdict was given by Judge Fernanda Jacomini from the 1st Criminal Court. The trial began on Wednesday (12) at the Barra Funda Criminal Forum in the western zone. In previous interviews, lawyer Claudio Dalledone, representing the police officer, stated that his client acted in self-defense. The release order for the police officer, who was in preventive detention, has already been issued, according to the São Paulo Court of Justice. In May, the trial was suspended by the court responding to a defense request. Defense attorneys filed a lawsuit against the judge of the 1st Criminal Court, which was accepted by Judge Marco Antônio Cogan. According to the lawyers, ‘the judge unilaterally ordered, on the eve of the session, the exclusion of the defense’s technical assistants, who were previously authorized to participate in the trial.’ One of them was a expert hired by the defense, and they saw a potential imbalance in the proceedings. The trial was rescheduled for August. However, on the new date, it was dissolved a few hours after the start due to disagreement between prosecution and defense. The trial was then scheduled to begin this week.