Drug personality Kerwin Espinosa at Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, in this file photo taken on November 18, 2016, after his arrest in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) last Oct. 17. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — A Leyte court has granted Kerwin Espinosa’s bid for temporary liberty.
In a resolution dated June 13, Baybay City Regional Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Carlos Arguelles granted the petition for bail of Espinosa, as well as Alfred Batistis, Bryan Anthony Zaldivar, Jose Antipuesto and Marcelo Adorco, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove that the evidence against them is strong.
“Thus, the constitutional right to bail of the accused should be upheld by this Court,” Arguelles said.
Espinosa and his co-accused were charged with violating Section 26 (B) in relation to Section 5, Article II of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The case is related to Espinosa and his co-accused’s admission of their involvement in illegal drug trading.
But the court said under the rules on evidence, an extrajudicial confession is not enough and must be supported by the corpus delicti-body of the crime.
However, a list of exhibits submitted by the prosecutors does not include illegal drugs or their proceeds.
“Sifting and scouring through the tangled web of the prosecution’s evidence, this Court did not find any corroboration. There were no eyewitnesses in the commission of the crime that would positively identify Espinosa and his co-accused of having committed the crime charged,” the court said.
It noted that the prosecution relied mostly on the accused’s testimonies that constituted their extrajudicial confessions. Thus, it added, it cannot be treated as independent evidence to form part of corpus delicti.
“The prosecution to fortress its evidence also proffered the records of the proceedings in the Senate investigation where Espinosa confessed extrajudicially his participation in the drug trade. His testimony in the Senate hearing is an extrajudicial confession that must be corroborated by corpus delicti and it should be treated in the same manner as his extrajudicial confession executed before law enforcement agencies,” the court added.
Even the admission of Espinosa’s co-accused does not constitute substantial evidence of guilt against the accused if unsupported by independent evidence, the court said.
“In this case at bar, the evidence so far presented by the prosecution does not establish conspiracy, and worst, it is corroborated by independent evidence other than the declaration of the alleged co-conspirators. The testimonial evidence of the witnesses is barren and impotent of any indicium of conspiracy among the accused,” the court added.
The court ordered Espinosa and his co-accused to post P700,000 bail each for their temporary liberty.
However, Espinosa will remain in detention as he has two other cases before the Manila Regional Trial Court.