Memoirs of the innocence project: The crime of receiving stolen goods as seen from a case study

Abstract

The article arises as a product of one of the cases developed within the Innocence Colombia Project. The case under study is based on the crime of receiving, as provided in Article 447 of the Colombian criminal law, which has been subject to substantial
changes reflected not only in the transformation of a crime but also in an increase and decrease of custodial sentences; it is also observed that the constant change of regulations has allowed the generation of transcendental errors in the analysis of the crime and the punitive assessment, thus allowing unjust convictions and violations of due process. By reviewing a case study through the analysis of procedural documents, doctrinal, legal and jurisprudential texts, physical and digital for the crime of receiving, it was possible to establish the background of the crime in Colombia, its concept, characteristics, general aspects surrounding the ruling in a case where the criminal dosimetry was based on a false normative appreciation, in which the fundamental rights of those involved were violated. It is concluded that the conduct of receiving has been subject to multiple regulatory changes over time, as a result of the repeated conducts by the actors of criminal conduct; however, at the time of issuing a ruling, the Ad Quem may incur in an error of fact by false judgment of reasoning and end up imposing an excessive penalty, violating the principle of legality.