Embattled Libertarian Movement lawmaker Ovidio Agüero got no breaks in a pretrial hearing before Costa Rica's Penal Branch of the Supreme Court (Sala III) Tuesday.

The court ordered the full range of cautionary pretrial measures against Agüero, who is charged with manslaughter after hitting and killing cyclist Víctor Arroyo, 25, while allegedly driving drunk on the highway from Cariari to his hometown of Guápiles on the Caribbean slope in the early morning hours of Nov. 2.

Agüero, 55, must forfeit his driver's license and passport and is barred from leaving the country. He is also prohibited from contacting the victim's family and other witnesses, including for settlement negotiations, and is required to check in with the judicial officials every 30 days.

Agüero's lawyer, J. Pablo Baltodano, said the defense has been unable to reach a settlement with the victim's family since they requested a settlement of ¢75 million ($136,000) in December, but that they hope to have the case moved to a settlement hearing within a month.

Agüero waived his congressional immunity, but, because he is a member of the Legislative Assembly, his case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese, as opposed to the local criminal court.

Per the Transit Police, Agüero registered a level of 1.39 grams of alcohol per liter of blood, well above the legal limit of 0.49. Baltodano has said he may challenge the legality of the Breathalyzer test.

However, even if the drunken driving charge were thrown out, Agüero still faces the manslaughter charge, punishable by six months to eight years in prison.

If the drunk driving charge holds, Agüero could also lose his driver's license for 10 to 20 years, though this charge would not affect the prison sentence. A drunken driving charge alone would carry a fine of ¢20,000 (about $36) and six-month license revocation, under the old traffic laws.

The family of José Antonio Solano has come forward recently in the news media with an account in which Agüero allegedly hit and killed José, then 27, as the victim walked on the road in 1991, but Agüero, then a commercial farmer, was never tried.

Judicial Branch press director Fabián Barrantes confirmed a manslaughter charge was filed against Agüero in 1991; however, the file was one of some 500 lost in a 1993 fire that consumed the Guápiles Criminal Court and local Judicial Investigation Police office.