by Rod Hughes (See newsfeed articles 1280 and 1364.)

Francisco Dall’Anese, the country’s dynamic top prosecutor, has been re-elected to another four-year term as Fiscal General the local equivalent to the attorney general of the United States. The Number One prosecutor has all but secured his place in Costa Rican history for causing the arrest and charging of two ex-presidents.

He will not have to go through a congressional confirmation hearing such as is currently proceeding in the United States, since the court is autonomous and elects its own judges and chief prosecutor in balloting by the highest judges. The count was 15 for and 7 against, handily meeting the “half plus one vote” requisite.

Before the balloting, Dall’Anese rendered accounts for his past four-year term and told the judges that he will go after organized crime. Despite his high profile, his election was by no means a shoo-in. He was rejected earlier this year for a judgeship on the Supreme Court.

He was subjected to a severe cross-examination by two judges before the vote. (If he had forgotten how unpleasant this process is to the defendant, he must have been reminded.) He mentioned how he had reduced the backlog of cases, bringing speedier trials to a court system not known for swiftness. He also pointed with pride to successful prosecutions of some high profile cases such as the arsonist convicted of causing the fire at Calderon Guardia Hospital that killed 19 persons.