Corona lawyers: No need for CJ to testify

THE lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday said they would  not allow Corona to testify in the impeachment trial.

However, they  intend to  call Justice Secretary Leila de Lima as a hostile witness, said lawyers  Jose Roy III, Tranquil Salvador, Karen Jimeno and Rico Paulo Quicho who visited Cebu City.

“I will not allow him (Corona) to testify. The evidence presented against him does not require him to testify. We can rebut the evidence of the prosecution without his testimonies,” said Roy. The impeachment trial is set to resume on Monday, May 7.

Roy said defense lawyers just wanted to secure Corona.

“We can’t protect the chief justice if he is on the witness stand. If senators will ask him a question, no objections can be raised. It would only satisfy the curiosity and drama on the part of the public,” Roy said.

Jimeno, for her part, said the defense would want to call back De Lima to discuss issues she didn’t testify on when she testified for the prosecution. /REporter Ador Vincent  S. Mayol