MANILA, Philippines -- The verdict in the murder trial of former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste, who is accused of killing his aide Rafael de Las Alas, could come by the end of this year or January next year, the defense and prosecution said Monday.

Both camps expressed confidence they would secure a favorable decision in the almost two-year-old murder trial, one of the most controversial cases of 2007.

Henry Capela, Leviste's lawyer, said Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 could hand down his decision acquitting or convicting Leviste of murder at the end of the year.

"We're looking at two months. We have 15 days to file our formal offer of evidence and the prosecution has 15 days to file their comment, and then we have one month to file our memorandum," Capela said.

"At the earliest, the decision could come in December or January next year," the lawyer said.

Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco expressed the same opinion, saying Alameda is known for finishing his cases promptly.

Leviste is on trial for shooting dead De las Alas on January 12, 2007 in his office at the LPL Towers in Legaspi Village, Makati City. He confessed to the killing but said he did it in self-defense.

Velasco said he was confident that the prosecution had made a strong case against Leviste. "The burden of evidence is on their side. They failed to prove self-defense," he said.

Capela, however, said the court would not convict Leviste on the basis of mere guesswork on the part of the prosecution. "All they did was present allegations and speculations," he said.

The defense wrapped up the presentation of its evidence last week and is set to file its formal offer next week, in which it would submit all its documentary evidence that had been marked previously during trial.

The prosecution would then comment on the evidence presented, and the judge would rule on its admissibility.

Once all the evidence had been accounted for, both the prosecution and the defense would file their memoranda, in which they would each summarize their entire case.