Cleared suspects ask SC for freedom
By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:05:00 11/18/2008
Filed Under: Judiciary (system of justice), Crime
MANILA, Philippines -- A scion of a prominent family and his driver have asked the Supreme Court to order their immediate release after the Department of Justice (DoJ) found no probable cause to charge them with murder for the death of businessman Francisco Delgado last year.
In their 21-page motion, Luis Gonzalez and Antonio Buenaflor, through their lawyer, Estelito Mendoza, said the Manila Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals have already affirmed the findings of the DoJ but had not acted on their motion to release.
Gonzalez and Buenaflor "having been in jail far longer than the law should allow a person to be detained without being delivered to proper judicial authorities, 300 hours and 120 days have lapsed, [Gonzalez and Buenaflor] have been arbitrarily deprived of their constitutionality guaranteed right to liberty," the petition said.
Assuming there is basis for their detention, Mendoza said the two should be allowed to post bail.
Citing Section 13 of the Constitution, the petition said the posting of bail is allowed if "the evidence of guilt is not strong."
The appeals court earlier reversed the March 18 ruling of retired Associate Justice Enrico Lanzanas, which affirmed the ruling of the DoJ that there is evidence to warrant the filing of murder against Gonzales and driver Antonio Buenaflor.
It also nullified the arrest warrants issued by the Manila City Regional Trial Court.
The appeals court noted that the finding of probable cause was based on the testimony of lone eyewitness, Annalisa Pesico, the victim’s girlfriend.
In her first testimony, Pesico claimed she was with Delgado when he was stabbed dead inside his residence at the Mayflower Building in Malate, Manila on March 10, 2007 and that she was beaten up by two men who supposedly said they were just following the orders of Delgado’s brother, Franco.
But in her second sworn statement which she executed four days after, Pesico identified the assailants as Gonzales and Buenaflor, claiming she recognized them when they removed their masks.
However, the appeals court said it was unlikely she would have seen their faces because of the suddenness of the attack.
The appeals court also noted that, while she claimed to have seen both assailants, she only gave information for the cartographic sketch of one suspect, which did not resemble either of the two accused.
The court also gave weight to the affidavits of 29 medical staff of the Neuro-Psychiatric Unit of the Makati Medical Center, which Gonzales presented as proof it was impossible for him to be at the crime scene since he was confined at the hospital when the killing happened.
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