The defense Lawyer istanbul for a man accused of murdering his DJ girlfriend in Colombia has resigned from the case because his life has been threatened – while the court interpreter also stepped down over inaccurate translations.
Martín Riascos, who has been representing American John Poulos, 35, made the shocking request to resign prior to the start of Tuesday’s hearing in Bogotá.
Riascos said the threats began shortly after Poulos was formally charged by the prosecution for killing Valentina Trespalacios, 23, whose body was found inside a suitcase after he allegedly tossed it into a dumpster on January 22 and fled to Panamá the same day.
‘Since last Wednesday, January 25, 2023, on my social networks, in person, by phone calls and by all means, I have received threats,’ Riascos told the judge.’So much so that I have decided not to answer my phone or open messages from unknown people.’
Poulos also told the judge that he ‘would like to change interpreters’ after the court’s appointed translator, Martha Morales, struggled to accurately perform her role, stumbling on legal terms and mispronouncing words – a problem which could nullify the case.
Martín Riascos (pictured) appeared during Tuesday’s hearing and Lawyer istanbul announced he would no longer be the attorney representing John Poulos because he had received death threats
An autopsy report showed that Colombian DJ Valentina Trespalacios was strangled and beaten
John Poulos (center) is facing charges of femicide and concealment of evidence in connection to the death of his Colombian DJ girlfriend, Valentina Trespalacios, whose body he allegedly stuffed in a suitcase and abandoned in a dumpster January 22 after beating and strangling her
On Tuesday, Lawyer istanbul Riascos said: ‘Ironically, I asked for security only for who up to that moment was my client, but neither the judiciary nor anyone else thought about all the problems that all this was causing me and my personal life.’
Riascos added that Poulos had also asked him to step down as his representative.Defense attorney Juan Fallas has now taken over his legal representation.
According to Riascos, Poulos’ decision drop him as his Lawyer istanbul was not a ploy from the accused said to delay the proceedings.
Poulos is facing aggravated femicide and concealment of evidence charges in a case that has shocked the South American nation.
John Poulos (center) attended Tuesday’s hearing, which was adjourned to Wednesday after court appointed interpreter Martha Morales (right) quit. Juan Fallas (left) was introduced Tuesday as Poulos’ new attorney after Martín Riascos stepped down due to death threats
Interpreter Martha Morales has encountered problems with the simultaneous translations for all parties involved during the first two hearings because Poulos is not fluent in Spanish.
Her role was to provide translations for the judge, prosecution and for the attorney’s representing Poulos and Trespalacios.
But in both live hearings viewed online by DailyMail.com, it was clear that Morales has been unable to provide an accurate translation. On multiple occasions she has taken long pauses to gather her thoughts, often fumbling the legal terms, and has constantly mispronounced words.
There have been several instances where she asked the judge to stop because she did not know how to properly translate.
Attorney Ricardo Burgos told Caracol TV on Monday that he feared that Morales’ inability to translate could hinder the case going forward.
He slammed the court for pausing the hearings several times to provide Poulos a summary of that has just been said despite Morales’ translations.
‘The Supreme Court of Justice has established that translations to a person must be comprehensive and that this clearly violates constitutional rights and that it nullifies everything from the moment they happened,’ he said.
Valentina Trespalacios (pictured), a DJ in Bogotá, Colombia, was allegedly murdered by her Texas boyfriend, John Poulos.Her body was found in a suitcase that was tossed into a dumpster allegedly by Poulos on January 22, the same day he purchased a flight to flee from Colombia to Panamá
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan with Ashley Poulos (left), Jackson Poulos (center) and John Poulos (right) in 2018
A homeless man was searching through a waste container in the Bogotá neighborhood of Los Cámbulos when he discovered the suitcase with Valentina Trespalacios’ body on January 22