Bella Ruby Santos is all too aware of that legal maxim as the court issued an arrest warrant against her and her British partner Ian Charles Griffiths last Tuesday.
Her legal team had to scramble to ask the court to reconsider its ruling to hold her and her boyfriend for trial in relation to the Feb. 8 kidnapping and killing 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique.
Bella’s lawyers say she’s somewhere in the country, but give no details.
What is certain is that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) issued a hold-departure order on her, and based on record, she hasn’t taken a flight abroad.
Bella’s not-infrequent cell phone calls to family members indicate she’s not that far.
Her dilemma is clear.
She can remain a fugitive, which is costly and no longer easy to pull off with her financially challenged partner stuck in the United Kingdom.
Or she should submit to the jurisdiction of the court, as ordered by the judge, with no bail assured for her temporary liberty while the trial proceeds.
It’s a tough choice, which has made Bella lose all the bravura she’s shown from Day One, when she appeared in court to stare down her critics with chin up and full battle gear—stiletto heels, bright red lips and a daring neckline.
She’ll need that kind of courage again if she yields to authorities, to spend a still-to-be-determined waiting time behind bars.
Defense lawyers are hoping to convince the judge to set bail the minute she surrenders.
The outcome, of course, would depend on how the judge assesses the strength of the evidence in this heinous crime and the risk of Bella disappearing during trial.
The longer Bella stays out on the lam, the less certain her chances of being allowed to post bail at all.
If family members and close friends are to be believed, Bella has a touch of depression that could push her to harm herself.
That would be tragic.
The life of a 6-year-old girl is already consigned to dust. There’s no need to dispatch another life prematurely.
It’s not the end of the world. It’s just due process.
The time for Bella to prove she meant it when she promised to face the music and boldly prove her innocence is now.