Overview

• Argentina’s Supreme Court refused a complaint from Matías Benicelli’s defense after it was filed directly in the national tribunal without exhausting the provincial route.
• The decision, signed by Justices Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti, left untouched the claims about ineffective legal defense and alleged conflicts among co-defendants.
• Benicelli is serving a life sentence imposed in 2023 for the killing of Fernando Báez Sosa in Villa Gesell.
• In March 2024, the Buenos Aires provincial cassation court upheld the sentences but discarded the aggravating factor of alevosía, confirming premeditation and participation by multiple people.
• The conviction is not yet final as proceedings continue in the provincial judiciary, even as the national court declined to take up this particular challenge.