Protagonismo probatório do depoimento policial: as fragilidades do processo penal acusatório em face da centralidade da prova testemunhal nos crimes da Lei de Drogas

Abstract

The testimonial evidence, in special police officers deposition, have a central role in Brazilian criminal proceedings. If, in one hand, criminal investigation has a certain dependency on this type of evidence, on the other hand it is weakened on several areas by this prominence. The present work sought to identify such weaknesses and indicate their possible factual reasons through bibliographic review, qualitative, analytical and inductive research. Besides, through a study of Brazilian legislation and jurisprudence, individual indictee’s guarantees and the presumption of veracity of the police officer’s deposition, consolidated by the national courts, were confronted. From this analysis, both in general and specifically to the crimes of the Drug Laws, on which such impacts are more visible, quantitatively and qualitatively, there is a relevant impact on the defendants' right of defense and on the accusatory structure of the Brazilian criminal law, weaknesses that are directly related to mass incarceration and a process of selectivity in criminal prosecution.