Verdict and Sentencing in Poveda Trial

Franco-Spanish filmmaker Christian Poveda was murdered in September 2009 while making "La Vida Loca" ("The Crazy Life"), a documentary about gangs in El Salvador. On Tuesday, a brief two-day trial brought back a guilty verdict for 11 gang members and one police officer. The convicted each received prison terms ranging from 4 to 30 years.

The court convicted Jose Melara of the Mara 18 for ordering the killing. However, the exact motive for the killing isn't exactly clear. The Miami Herald article mentions three possible motives. According to the attorney general, a former policeman who was convicted as an accessory to the crime, said that Poveda was killed because he had been acting as an informant. However, other police officials deny that Poveda ever worked as an informant.

A second scenario is based upon other suspect testimony that Poveda was killed because his documentary showed gang members breaking the law. Poveda broke his promise with the gang wherein he had promised not to show the film in El Salvador. This scenario appears to be gaining traction.

Finally, Police Assistant Investigations Director Howard Cotto provides a third scenario where the gang's leadership disagreed about how much Poveda should be allowed to film.

In the end 11 people were convicted - 3 for participating in his murder and 8 for unlawful association. Another 20 were found not guilty. Seventeen of those 20 are still in jail, however, serving time for other offenses.

Reporters Without Borders released a statement shortly afterwards saying that the two-day trial and subsequent verdict left the staff and organization with "mixed feelings" and unanswered questions, a "mixture of relief and frustration."

It's nice to see a conviction in this high-profile case. Murder convictions in El Salvador are few and far between. However, it's also an example of the weakness of the justice system where a case involving 31 suspects was concluded in two days and there still seems so much uncertainty surrounding the exact motive for the crime.