The Court of Appeals for the Second Judicial Circuit of San Jose recently upheld a prison sentence for the Mayor of Coronado, a municipality located in the eastern exurbs of the capital city of Costa Rica. According to court records in this case, former Mayor Leonardo Herrera Sanchez and a female companion used a municipal vehicle to travel to the Cascada Azul (Blue Falls) motel in San Francisco de Dos Ríos, a municipality that is known for its high concentration of roadside love motels that are leased by the hour.

Two appellate judges determined that the former Mayor did not use the government-issue vehicle in a manner that was beneficial to public interest; however, a third appellate judge wrote a blistering dissent and withheld his vote on what he considered to be a deliberate moral imposition by the lower court, and he also took time to blast the Municipal Rules of Coronado, which appear to have been written by Inspector Clouseau.

The former Mayor was detained on April 2012 by law enforcement agents who noticed a municipal car exiting the Blue Falls motel. It is not clear why the agents were staking out a love motel, but they believed that the Chinese-made 2009 Great Wall sport utility vehicle (SUV) may have been stolen from the Municipality of Coronado. Such was not the case; in fact, the SUV -which was assigned for discretionary and personal use- was driven by the former Mayor, who was in the company of a stunning woman.

During the trial that culminated in the conviction and sentencing of Mr. Herrera, the hearings could be described as confusing and salacious. Snide remarks were made by the prosecution with regard to the appearance of Mr. Herrera’s female companion, who apparently is a very attractive woman of boundless sex appeal, plus the fact that the amatory encounter was a “nooner” that took place at lunchtime, which would suggest time off for the former Mayor.

Notwithstanding the undisputed argument that Mr. Herrera did not perform a public service by driving the Great Wall to the Blue Falls, the defense argued that the Municipal Rules in Coronado are not clear insofar as prohibiting Mayors from using discretionary vehicles for sexual gratification. If anything, the trial proved that the Municipal Rules are filled with contradictions and cloudy palaver, and this is something that did not sit well with the appellate judge who abstained from voting in this judicial review.

The nebulous Municipal Rules of Coronado, according to the dissenting judge, are not in line with objective reality and filled with grave inconsistencies. Moreover, the high court judge also mentioned that the Second Circuit Court of San Jose is hardly an appropriate venue for a lower court judge to debate sexuality and morals, which is what the trial seems to have focused on instead of concentrating on the rule of law, which in Coronado seems like an exercise in discombobulation if you are forced to follow the cryptic paragraphs of the Municipal Rules.

Mr. Herrera was sentenced to three months in prison and ordered to stay away from the political arena and public service for a term of three years. The sentenced was issued in November 2014, but it is unlikely that he will actually serve the jail term based on current prison overcrowding conditions in Costa Rica, as well as the fact that the former Mayor has no prior criminal record and that his actions did not involve violence, physical harm or damage to property.