With Heller Ehrman attorney Jeff Hsu in attendance, the third trial- of one of the ranchers accused of conspiring to assassinate Sister Dorothy- took place in May 2007. Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura was convicted and sentenced to the maximum of thirty years in prison.

A Step Backward

In December 2007, a Brazilian appeals court annulled the conviction of triggerman Rayfran das Neves Sales. Incredibly, Sales was granted a new trial because he had not been allowed to put forward evidence of self-defense. And convicted rancher de Moura was granted a mandatory retrial because he was a first offender sentenced to more than twenty years imprisonment.

At the second trial for the two men held in May 2008, Sales claimed that he had acted alone and in self-defense, contradicting his previous testimony in which he said he had used de Moura’s gun. The jury convicted Sales, but acquitted de Moura by a vote of 5-2. The Stang family expressed its outrage. Large protests immediately ensued. The government has indicated its intention to appeal.

The alleged mastermind of the killing- rancher Regivaldo Galvao- is still out of jail and has avoided trial for three years through legal maneuvers. Hopefully 2008 will be a different story.

The Fight Continues

Despite the recent setback, the convictions obtained to date are nonetheless historic achievements and a blow against the tradition of impunity for human rights violations in lawless Para state, sometimes described as the "epicenter" of impunity in the Americas. But the fight is far from over.

A recent change to the Brazilian Constitution established a procedure for requesting federalization of a criminal prosecution where there is a serious human rights violation and the risk of impunity at the state level is high. Heller Ehrman and the Stang family are stepping up their efforts to see that the investigation and prosecution are pursued to the highest levels through the Para state system. And both are hoping that they will not have to ask the court to order the rest of the case to be prosecuted by federal authorities.

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Sister Dorothy Stang

Everybody, in a very democratic way, can share in this world’s gifts. Some people are taking off so much of the pleasures in this world, and there’s only so much to go around.

- Sister Dorothy Stang