Nicaragua Court Probes
Volz Case
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP)
— Nicaragua's Supreme
Court on Wednesday said
it had begun
investigating two judges
who overturned the
30-year sentence and
conviction of an
American in the killing
of his Nicaraguan
girlfriend.
Appellate Judges Roberto
Rodriguez and Alejandro
Estrada were on a
three-judge panel that
freed Eric Volz, 28, of
Nashville, Tenn., last
week. The two cited
"reasonable doubt" in
overturning the
conviction. The third
judge voted to uphold
the original verdict.
The decision sparked
outrage among some
Nicaraguans who allege
the American received
special treatment in the
local justice system and
should not have been
released.
Rafael Solis, the
Supreme Court's vice
president, said the two
judges were scheduled to
appear before
investigators on January
8. The court will
determine whether they
acted inappropriately
and turn its findings
over to criminal
investigators if any
wrongdoing is found,
Solis told a news
conference.
Volz, a
surfer-turned-real-estate-broker,
and a Nicaraguan man,
Julio Martin Chamorro,
were sentenced in
February for the death
of 25-year-old Doris
Ivania Jimenez, who was
found raped and
strangled in a clothing
store she owned in
Rivas, 55 miles south of
the Nicaraguan capital
of Managua. The court
upheld Chamorro's
conviction in the
murder.
Prosecutors said there
was evidence Jimenez put
up a fight, matching
scratch marks on Volz's
shoulder. They also said
he told an assistant to
rent a car for him
because "someone has
died," before he claimed
to have learned of her
death. Jimenez's mother
said he had threatened
to kill her before.
Volz has maintained his
innocence, saying he was
two hours away from the
crime scene at the time.
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