Defense tactics draw judge’s ire

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes was so exasperated with defense lawyers in the Maguindanao massacre case on Thursday that she slammed both her hands on her table in flaying them for “delaying” the trial.

“My God, you’re delaying,” Reyes told defense lawyer Paris Real. “The court has been very lenient to you.”

Reyes’ outburst happened while the prosecution was presenting its witness, Esmael Enog Amil, a former militiaman, Thursday morning.

Amil told the court that on orders from his immediate superior, Alijol Ampatuan, he trucked 36 armed men in two batches to Ampatuan town, Maguindanao on the morning of Nov. 23, 2009, the day when 57 people were massacred.

He positively identified four accused present in court—Mohamad Datumanong alias Nicomedes Tolentino, Tato Tampogao and Mohades and Misuari Ampatuan—as among the armed men he brought to Malating, Ampatuan town on board a truck from the house of Kanor Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak town.

He also testified that, after going back to Shariff Aguak, he heard gunshots ring out “for about an hour” from the direction of Ampatuan town around lunchtime that day.

Other witnesses have testified that the massacre of 57 supporters of the Ampatuans’ political rival and journalists happened around 11 a.m.

However, Amil failed to identify in court Moktar Daud, an alleged aide of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. who was also at the court on Thursday.

Tensions heightened inside the courtroom earlier when defense lawyer Andres Manuel objected to Amil’s testimony, saying that when Prosecutor Grace Ruiz introduced the witness, she said Amil was going to testify about an “Alimol Ampatuan.”

“This is not part of the offer. He mentioned an Alimol Ampatuan,” Manuel said.

Ruiz countered that she might have mispronounced Ampatuan’s first name but insisted that she was referring to Alijol, a distant relative of Andal Sr.

Judge Reyes overruled Manuel’s objection but the defense lawyer persisted.

“You’re just delaying,” the judge said. “It’s just a matter of spelling or pronunciation.”

Ruiz said she was ready to show the defense a copy of the prosecution’s formal offer of evidence to show that Amil was referring to Alijol Ampatuan. She then approached the judge’s bench with Real and showed him the document.

However, the proceedings further heated up when Real kept on insisting that the document Ruiz showed be marked as evidence. It was then that Judge Reyes got angry.

During cross-examination, defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun also tried to demolish Amil’s credibility when he noted that the witness could not present an identification card, birth certificate, or driver’s license.

“Up to now, you have no proof that you are what you are claiming to be,” Fortun told the witness.

The defense was able to convince Judge Reyes to order the prosecution to present to the court on Friday Amil’s plane ticket from Davao to see if he told the court his real name.

Amil also admitted under defense questioning that his brother, Rakim, was an accused in the case and was actually detained at the Quezon City jail annex in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.

Rakim is scheduled to be arraigned on August 3.