However, because the U.S. federal government operates primarily in English, the result is that all Puerto Rican attorneys must be bilingual in order to litigate in English in U.S. federal courts and to litigate federal preemption issues in Puerto Rican courts. Puerto Rico had about a million residents at the time it became part ...
Main article: Judiciary of Puerto Rico. The judicial branch is headed by the Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which is the only appellate court required by the Constitution. All other courts are created by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico .
Many of the Laws of Puerto Rico ( Leyes de Puerto Rico) are modeled after the Spanish Civil Code, which is part of the Law of Spain. After the U.S. government assumed control of Puerto Rico in 1901, it initiated legal reforms resulting in the adoption of codes of criminal law, criminal procedure, and civil procedure modeled after those then in effect in California. Although Puerto Rico has since followed the federal example of transferring criminal and civil procedure from statutory law to rules promulgated by the judiciary, several portions of its criminal law still reflect the influence of the California Penal Code .
As Puerto Rico is under United States sovereignty, U.S. federal law applies in the territory, and cases of a federal nature are appealed to the island's Federal District Court .
Lorenzo Ahmed González Cacho (November 29, 2001 – March 9, 2010) was an eight-year-old Puerto Rican boy who was murdered in his home in Dorado, Puerto Rico, on March 9, 2010. At the time of his death, his mother, Ana Cacho, and two sisters were at the house.
The case has gained notoriety in the island for the discrepancies and irregularities surrounding the evidence and testimonies about it, which initially led to the boy's mother along with three mal…
Lorenzo González Cacho was born on November 29, 2001. He was the middle child of Ahmed Alí González and Ana Cacho out of three. The couple also had two daughters. From an early age, González showed interest in sports, and was active in a soccer team. He was studying at Dorado Academy in his hometown. At the time of Lorenzo's death, his parents were in the process of divorcing. Also, at that time, his sisters were approximately 13 and 5 years old.
On March 9, 2010, Ana Cacho took Lorenzo to the Treatment and Diagnostic Center in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Cacho arrived between 5:00 and 5:30 am with Lorenzo covered in blood. The child was pronounced dead at the clinic. Upon questioning, Cacho claimed that her son had fallen from his bed at their home in Dorado del Mar. However, this version was discarded by the autopsy which revealed severe injuries to the face and head, which included three stabbing wounds to th…
Although no charges have been filed, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice had identified four people considered suspects in the death of Lorenzo. However, on March 9, 2015, on the 5th anniversary of the murder, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice announced that all four were no longer suspects.
• Ana I. Cacho González – Lorenzo's mother. She was identified as a suspect by the Department …
The case gained widespread notoriety throughout the island when the gossip-news show SuperXclusivo, started following it closely. While following the case, a number of irregularities were alleged. Among these is the crime scene, which was not secured and was cleaned after it had already been seen by investigators, but before forensics could thoroughly analyze it. Ana Cacho's father met with the governor at the time, Luis Fortuño, and handed him a mysterious en…
• Death of Caylee Anthony, 2-year-old American child whose mother was accused of her murder
• Death of Liliana Barbarita Cepeda
• List of unsolved murders