SANTO DOMINGO. – The First Court of Instruction of the National District was assigned to hear the preliminary hearing against siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat, owners of the Jet Set Club nightclub, where on April 8 of this year the roof of the building collapsed, leaving 236 people dead and more than 100 injured.
Last Friday, November 8th, the Public Prosecutor's Office a formal accusation and request for a trial against the Espaillat brothers, stating that, in their actions as those responsible for the operation of the entertainment venue located on Independencia Avenue in the National District, the Espaillat brothers committed involuntary manslaughter and involuntary assault and battery, crimes punishable under Articles 319 and 320 of the Dominican Penal Code.
Judge Raymundo Mejía, who has been appointed to the case, must set a date for the hearing in which the accusation presented by the Public Ministry will be known.
Kenya Romero, the coordinating judge of the Courts of Instruction of the National District, assigned the case through a computerized and random draw, in accordance with the established judicial procedure.
According to the Dominican Penal Code, the crime of involuntary homicide carries a penalty of three months to two years in prison, while charges for involuntary blows and injuries are punishable by six days to two months in jail.
What the Public Prosecutor's Office says
The investigation was carried out based on a specific instruction issued by the Attorney General of the Republic, Yeni Berenice Reynoso , who commissioned the Director General of Prosecution and the District Attorney of the National District to carry out the criminal process, in order to determine the causes of the collapse of the roof of the Jet Set Club nightclub.
The prosecutors support the accusation with hundreds of pieces of evidence that compromise the criminal responsibility of the defendants.
The court determined that the defendants aggravated their responsibility by overloading the building's roof structure with large air conditioning units and water tanks, without conducting technical studies to guarantee the structure's strength. Furthermore, they ignored internal warnings about the roof's deterioration, prioritizing cost savings despite the obvious risks.
The report summarizes the findings that, when analyzing the structure of the building, were documented by Leonardo de Jesús Reyes Madera (earthquake-resistant engineer), Eduardo A. Fierro (president of BFP Engineers) and Máximo José Corominas Quezada (pathological engineer), appointed by the Public Ministry in its investigation of the case.
