Chinchilla Elected New Magistrate
With 39 votes, Carlos Chinchilla Sandí was elected to the Sala Tercera de la Corte Suprema de Justicia by Legislative Assembly.

The election came as the first order of business for the legislators on their return to the benches from their Christmas break.

Before the break, legislators could not agree on which candidate to choose, none of the names on the list receiving the sufficient 38 votes for a clear election.

Last week, Fiscal General (Chief Prosecutor), Francisco Dall'Anese, who had been considered a shoe-in, decided to resign from the contest. The decision was made public yesterday morning, paving the way for legislators to elect Chinchilla with a majority of the votes.

The president of the Legislature, Francisco Antonio Pacheco, read the decision to the public after 3:00pm yesterday.

At 43 years of age, lawyer Carlos Chinchilla, said he is ready to assume the demands of the bench and has no political aspirations. Chinchilla is originally from the southern zone town of Golfito.