The trial of Military Police lieutenant Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo, charged with the 2022 killing of multiple-time Jiu-Jitsu world champion Leandro Lo, has been postponed following a decision by the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJ-SP).
Originally scheduled to begin Thursday, the proceedings were suspended through a preliminary ruling issued by Judge Marco Antônio Cogan. According to TATAME‘s investigation, the trial is expected to be rescheduled for August 5th and 6th, pending the court’s final decision.
The suspension came after Velozo’s defense team filed a petition claiming their client’s right to a full defense was being compromised. Defense attorneys specifically objected to the trial judge’s decision to cancel testimony from private experts they had hired to challenge the prosecution’s account of the bullet trajectory in Lo’s death.
Judge Cogan found merit in this argument and ordered the trial suspended until a panel of judges can evaluate the full request.
Leandro Lo, a celebrated figure in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community with multiple world championships to his name, lost his life after being shot in the head during an altercation at a São Paulo event in 2022.
While the criminal case proceeds, Velozo remains in preventive detention at the Romão Gomes military prison in São Paulo’s North Zone. He also faces separate administrative proceedings in Military Court, where the Military Police Internal Affairs Department has recommended his expulsion from the force. Reports indicate Velozo used his service weapon during the incident despite being off-duty and in civilian clothes.
Adriano Salles, attorney for Leandro Lo‘s family, provided context about the suspension in an interview with TATAME.
“Some time ago, I think in January or February, he (the lieutenant’s defense attorney) put together a private report, he hired private experts and paid them to prepare a report about the trajectory of the shot, which is advantageous for him. We also hired them, the judge authorized it, and we also put together a private report, refuting his report. Who has the power to prepare an official report here in Brazil? They are experts from the Criminalistics Institute and the IML,” he explained.
“The prosecutor took the report written by him and the report written by us, and asked the IC to clarify. With that, the IC clarified that our report is better than his. The judge, seeing that there is no longer any doubt, because even the IC has already spoken out, what did he do? ‘I no longer need to hear the technical assistants and private experts in the plenary’. He (the lieutenant’s defense attorney) requested an injunction yesterday (Wednesday), around 6 pm, and the court granted it. The loss is his, because it is his client who is in prison,” Salles concluded.
The case continues to draw significant attention in Brazil, particularly within the martial arts community where Lo was a respected and accomplished competitor.
