Later that same day, police brought Dolly Filártiga (Joelito's sister) to see the body, which evidenced marks of severe torture.

Dolly applied for political asylum, while Peña had stayed living and working illegally after entering under a visitor's visa.

When Peña was taken to the Brooklyn Navy Yard pending deportation, Filártiga lodged a civil complaint in U.S. courts, brought forth by the Center for Constitutional Rights, for Joelito's wrongful death by torture, asking for damages in the amount of $10 million.

Additionally, Peña had sought to dismiss the case based on forum non conveniens, arguing that Paraguay was a more convenient location for the trial, but he did not succeed.

[4][5] Following the Karadžić judgment, it was ruled in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain 542 U.S. 692 (2004) that Congress intended with the Alien Tort Statute that extraterritorial jurisdiction was allowed for only the most egregious international crimes.

[6] The scope of ATS was more strictly limited to preclude foreign corporate defendants as parties in Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC.

[4][8] Because individuals often don't have the means to pay large damage awards in these kinds of cases, the Seventh Circuit in Boim v. Quranic Literacy Institute gave voice to the idea that allowing claims to proceed against organizations and states that finance FTOs would "imperil the flow of money and discourage the financing of terrorist acts" by making it unprofitable.