Enrile rules out Corona mistrial

Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile ruled out the possibility of the impeachment proceedings being declared a mistrial, saying those floating the idea should “study the rules of procedure.”

Enrile, who presides over the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, said there was no basis to halt the proceedings, amid complaints from the defense that five senator-judges were favoring the prosecution.

“There is no mistrial in an impeachment (trial). If you say guilty, it’s guilty. There’s no appeal. If you say not guilty, there’s also no appeal,” he said in Filipino.

Senator Sergio Osmeña III, an ally of President Aquino, on Tuesday claimed that Corona’s camp was seeking a mistrial after alleging that certain senators were showing bias against the Chief Justice by aiding prosecutors during the trial.

In a supplementary petition, Corona himself named Osmeña as among the allegedly biased senator-judges. The others were Senators Franklin Drilon, Teofisto Guingona III and Francis Pangilinan of Mr. Aquino’s Liberal Party, and Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.

Osmeña said Tuesday: “I know their strategy. Their strategy is to declare there is a mistrial.”

Reacting to the idea of a mistrial, Enrile said: “It’s far-fetched. Where have they seen a mistrial (in an impeachment proceeding)? They should study the rules of procedure first.”

Enrile downplayed the possibility of Corona’s lawyers walking out of the proceedings, a tack used by prosecutors during the impeachment trial of then President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

“I don’t think so. They are all gentlemen. They are not irresponsible,” he said of the defense counsels led by retired Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas.

Enrile said the trial would proceed “all the way to the conclusion” even in the event of a walkout.

“If this happens, we will still decide the case based on the evidence on record,” he said. “Even if it’s the prosecutors who withdraw, we will still make a decision.”

The defense said it would not move for a declaration of a mistrial.

“Our direction is not for a mistrial,” defense spokesperson Tranquil Salvador III said at a media briefing during a break in the trial.

“We are determined to prove that there is no evidence against the Chief Justice,” he added.

Salvador said it was wrong to talk about a mistrial because “that is already a conclusion.”

“You know that we would also like to present our evidence. We’re just waiting for the right time. Let’s just wait and see how the impeachment court will decide the case,” he said.

Originally posted at 06:36 pm | Wednesday, February 15,  2012