Félix Portes Núñez, representing 30 plaintiffs, filed a motion challenging the decision that ordered the release of those involved in the Jet Set roof collapse.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Public Prosecutor's Office will present this Friday, June 27, 2025, an appeal against the coercive measures imposed on siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat , accused of committing involuntary manslaughter and involuntary blows and injuries to the detriment of the 236 people killed and the more than 180 injured by the collapse of the roof of the Jet Set Club nightclub, last April 8.
“We believe that the court did not properly assess the magnitude of the damage that these events have caused to Dominican society; but, above all, the damage that this means for the 235 people who died, more than 180 people who were injured, and more than 130 children who were orphaned as a result of this conduct and as a result of the behavior of Antonio and Maribel Espaillat, who put their economic interests above the interests of the people who were there, those who regularly went to that nightclub,” declared Deputy Attorney General Wilson Camacho in the early morning of the 19th of this month, after Judge Fátima Veloz's decision to release the Espaillat siblings.
The exact time the appeal will be filed is still unknown. The appeal will be submitted to the Permanent Attention Court of the National District, the same court that previously granted the defendants bail, requiring them to appear periodically and barring them from leaving the country.
Once the court receives the appeal, it will forward it to the presiding judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the National District, Julio César Cano Alfau . He, in turn, will assign the case to one of the three criminal chambers through a computerized random draw to hear and decide on the request submitted by the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Prosecutor's Office , as reported today by Listín Diario.
During the hearing, which lasted more than 14 hours, the Public Ministry team presented over 130 pieces of evidence to support their request for preventive detention against Antonio Espaillat and house arrest against his sister Maribel Espaillat.
The prosecution argued that both prioritized their economic interests over the safety of the people who were present and regularly attended that nightclub.
Félix Portes files petition
Yesterday, the lawyer for 30 plaintiffs, Félix Portes Núñez , filed the appeal challenging the decision that ordered the release of the Espaillat brothers, owners of the nightclub.
The petition requests that the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals take cognizance of the appeal, revoke the coercive measures issued against the Espaillat brothers, and order their preventive detention
Portes Núñez questioned the judge's assertion that she cannot assume as true a punishable conduct attributed to the defendants, after pointing out that this statement ignores the nature of eventual intent.
