Court denies De Lima acquittal bid

The trial continues for detained Sen. Leila de Lima after a Muntinlupa court affirmed its earlier decision denying her bid to be acquitted in one of her two remaining conspiracy to commit drug trading cases.

In a two-page order on Friday, Judge Liezel Aquiatan of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 dismissed for lack of merit De Lima’s motion for reconsideration in connection with the denial of her demurrer to evidence in Criminal Case No. 17-165, involving her former aide Ronnie Dayan.

The court also denied Dayan’s appeal on the same ground.

“The court stands with its omnibus order that accused De Lima and Dayan must present their evidence to prove their innocence of the crime charged,” Aquiatan wrote.

It was also Aquiatan who acquitted De Lima at CCN 17-166, after granting her demurrer to evidence in a separate order on Feb. 17.

De Lima’s lawyer accused the judge of “cherry-picking,” saying her eight-page omnibus order dated Feb. 17 summarized the narration of the prosecution’s witnesses, while the defense side was mentioned only in half a page.