THE LAWYER of the couple accused of maltreating their domestic helper asked a Quezon City court on Friday to cite for indirect contempt Public Attorneys Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta, the PAO forensic laboratory director and the alleged abuse victim Bonita Baran.
Jesus Fernandez, counsel for Ana Liza and Reynold Marzan, noted that the PAO chief, its forensics lab head Dr. Edwin Erfe, and Baran had been discussing the merits of the case in radio and TV interviews.
Fernandez said the three respondents had kept on “peddling the merits of their case” in the media even after the filing of charges for serious illegal detention, seven counts of physical injury and two counts of attempted murder against his clients.
The defense lawyer cited an interview with Erfe which was aired on ABS-CBN where, according to Fernandez, the doctor already gave his conclusions on the results of a physical examination conducted on Baran.
Fernandez said it was a violation of the sub judice rule which regulates commentaries and disclosures regarding the subject matter of cases pending in court. It also purportedly prejudiced his clients’ right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and to have an impartial trial, he said.
The lawyer stressed: “(The respondents’) extrajudicial representations effectively engender a negative perception against petitioner’s clients in the minds of the public and tend directly or indirectly to influence the decision of the controversy and consist in unlawful interference with the proceedings in said criminal cases.”
Meanwhile, Acosta filed a manifestation asking Judge Germano Francisco Legaspi of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court – Branch 77 to deny the Marzan couple’s petition for bail.
Acosta said the couple remained a flight risk on account of their repeated failure to appear in an earlier Senate inquiry that touched on their alleged misdeeds, despite a subpoena.
She also assailed the couple for purportedly appealing to public sympathy by citing their need to return home and be with their three young children.
“While it is true that the children of the accused will have to accept that their parents are facing imprisonment, that is a consequence that the Marzan spouses should have contemplated in the first place before they committed this dastardly crime,” Acosta said.
She also said Ana Liza’s reported medical needs could be amply addressed by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Acosta attached to her pleading an affidavit of Evalyn Abrio Tanael, another former employee of the Marzan couple, as additional evidence of their alleged cruelty.
A native of Catanduanes province like Baran, Tanael recalled in her sworn statement that she was hired by the Marzans as a nanny from October 1999 to April 2000, during which Ana Liza allegedly hurt her several times as punishment for the smallest mistakes and also barred her from leaving the house.
Tanael recounted that sometime in April 2000, Ana Liza allegedly forced her to drink a gallon of water when one of the children gagged and vomited after drinking a glass of water.
After that incident, she said, she was able to leave the Marzan’s house after a relative paid Ana Liza P1,000.