Ruby Rose suspect asks CA: Stop DOJ

Saying any testimony coming from Manuel Montero—the “unreliable and sole prosecution witness”—should now be discarded, one of the accused in the gruesome murder of Ruby Rose Barrameda has asked the Court of Appeals to stop Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, among others, from pursuing the case against him.

In a petition for certiorari filed earlier this month, Lope Jimenez, Barrameda’s uncle-in-law, asked the court to order the dismissal of the murder charge filed against him based on De Lima’s resolutions dated Aug. 11, 2010, and Dec. 28, 2012.

At the same time, Jimenez, who remains at large and has yet to be arraigned, also asked the appellate court to stop and prevent De Lima, the police and Barrameda’s parents from making moves  “in furtherance” of those resolutions.

The petition, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer, was submitted by Jimenez’s lawyer, Paul Lentejas.

Jimenez cited Montero’s “absolute lack of credibility” as the “sole prosecution witness” after the latter retracted his previous testimonies in which he linked the accused, as well as Barrameda’s husband, father-in-law and three other men to the victim’s death.

On June 10, 2009, Barrameda’s body was found encased in cement inside a steel drum that was thrown into the waters off Navotas City. This was more than two years after she disappeared while on her way to her estranged husband’s house to visit their children.

According to Jimenez, the recantation put Montero’s credibility into question, making the court “duty-bound” to “reject” all his versions of the story.

“Verily, the absolute lack of credibility of Montero as the sole prosecution witness was just confirmed by his later sworn recantation … It is obvious that Montero had fatally contradicted himself and both versions of his story should be (seen) as totally unreliable by this Honorable Court,” he said.

He added that De Lima had “gravely abused her discretion” when she did not dismiss the murder charge against him despite what he said was the lack of independent evidence linking him to the crime.

“In this case, there was no independent proof of such a conspiracy other than the affidavits of Montero,” Jimenez said.

He further said that De Lima  committed grave abuse of discretion when she reversed a DOJ resolution issued by then Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera on March 1, 2010, which dismissed the murder charges against him.

According to Jimenez, Devanadera’s resolution “had lapsed into finality” since the prosecution filed its motion for partial reconsideration “a day later” than the “nonextendible” 10-day rule on the filing of appeals.

“(De Lima) can no longer amend, correct, undo or reverse what has already become final,” he said.

“Indeed to flout our judicial processes just to instantly serve the popular demand for justice at whatever cost is … abhorrent,” he added.