Overview
- In July 2026 the Sala I of the Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals in Mercedes ruled that the Province of Buenos Aires must pay Patricia Miriam Larroza $126,800,000 plus interest for an unjust detention.
- Larroza was held in pretrial custody for more than two years after her August 2013 arrest and was acquitted in October 2015 when the prosecutor withdrew the charges at the oral trial.
- Judges concluded the prosecution relied on a reserved‑identity witness who was later shown to belong to an organization that fabricated criminal cases and whose statements were never properly corroborated.
- The award breaks down into $26,800,000 for psychological incapacity and $100,000,000 for moral damage, with statutory interest counted from her detention on August 26, 2013.
- The court noted severe harm to Larroza’s family life, including care lost for a child with hydrocephalus, and the ruling could increase scrutiny of long pretrial detentions and weak witness verification in provincial prosecutions while the murder’s material perpetrators remain unidentified.