The Flow of Murder Cases Through the Criminal Justice System in a Brazilian City

Abstract

The flow of homicide cases in Brazil can be described as a funnel, as numerous events are reported to the police but only a few are convicted. This article aims to identify the variables influencing time to clearance and time to conviction for murder cases in Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) by examining a sample of police investigations (uncleared cases) and criminal proceedings (cleared cases) closed between 2003 and 2013. Using Cox proportional hazard model, we found that time to clearance is affected by crime attributes and police procedures although time to conviction is affected only by arrest in flagrante delicto.