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Mexican law is different than American law. I'm sure that what is happening to these people is lawful in Mexico. Here are some of the differences.
Bill
Mexican law is still based upon both the Napoleonic Code and Roman Law. They refer to state judicial power as "Fuero Comun," or common law (not to be confused with American or British common law).
The American legal system is based upon case law. Court decisions made in previous cases can be used as the basis for arguing present cases before the court. Not so in Mexico, where each case must be argued anew. Appeals are known as Writs of Amparo, and it takes three separate instances of the same decision for it to assume the force of universal law.
There are no trials in Mexico. Neither is there open court. If a person is arrested, the district attorney "Ministerio Publico" has up to seventy-two hours to make a prosecutorial decision, and if the decision is made to prosecute, then the defendant is taken to prison, often referred to as the CERESO (CENTRO DE READAPTACION SOCIAL).
Within a few days, court is held at the prison. "Court" is a closed-door hearing in a small room with a window separating the defendant from his attorney, the prosecutors, the witnesses, stenographer, etc.. Missing is the judge, whom the defendant does not see. At this point the defendant is given the opportunity to tell his or her side of the story.
Depositions from witnesses/complainants have already been transcribed and are read to the defendant. The defendant will be informed if the offense is bailable. Generally bails are very low by American standards, and often the defendant wins Conditional Release after paying less than one-hundred dollars.
The depositions will be reviewed by the judge very quickly, and a decision will be rendered as to whether or not there is sufficient evidence to proceed. In some states this decision is made by a panel of judges, while in others it's made by only one judge. In many cases the amount posted as bail can be used to pay a "fine" in lieu of imprisonment upon conviction. This decision is up to the judge, and decisions can take as much as a couple of years. When the defendant is being detained in prison, this delay can be quite upsetting, for in Mexico there is no such thing as a right to a speedy trial. In fact, in Mexico, a "trial" is a process extending from the time the judge orders the defendant to be "tried" until the verdict. There's no oral testimony, no "Perry Mason" stuff, no opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. All "testimony" comes in the form of depositions that are slipped into the case folder for the judge to review, and what gets slipped in, and what gets slipped out, is a matter for your imagination.
Not-Guilty verdicts are appealable by the state.
In the Mexican legal system there are "Public Offenses" and "Private Offenses." Private Offenses are some offenses against private individuals that the state has no interest in pursuing absent a cooperating complainant. Minor assaults, property damage, simple thefts from individuals, statutory rape, generally fall under this catagory. If the "victim" in such cases withdraws the charges, even after the defendant is convicted and sent to prison, then a judge can order the defendant freed and the entire case extinguished as though it had never happened.
The thing to keep in mind is that Mexico is a republic consisting of thirty-one states and, as in the United States, each state has its own criminal and civil code. Mexican federal law applies in Mexico City, on government land and facilities, in customs and immigration, as well as to certain crimes regardless of where in Mexico they occur. For example, all drug offenses in Mexico now fall under federal law.
