DALIA Guerrero-Pastor, wife of slain international race car driver Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor. FILE PHOTO
Dalia Guerrero, wife of slain international race car driver Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor, asked the Court of Appeals to stop authorities from implementing the order for her arrest.
Guerrero was charged in court for parricide after her husband was shot to death in Quezon City on June 12, 2014.
Last April, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 91 issued a warrant for her arrest.
In her petition before the Court of Appeals through her counsel Atty. Rui Rondain, Quezon City RTC Branch 85 Judge Luisito Cortez committed grave abuse of discretion in holding that probable cause exists to order her arrest.
“The findings of respondent Judge are not supported by the facts and by the law,” the petition stated.
The only evidence against Guerreo, the petition notes, was the testimony of witness Edgar Angel Ybañez who said that he saw her with co-accused Domingo De Guzman III and introduced her as “boss.”
“There is nothing else which links Dalia to this crime,” the petition stated.
“Unless respondent Judge is restrained, Dalia will suffer great and irreparable injury in that she will be deprived of her constitutional right to liberty without due process and her statutory right to a fair preliminary investigation,” the petition said.
In a resolution released last February, the DOJ said there was enough evidence to charge Dalia in the death of her husband.
The resolution was written by Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Villanueva and approved by Senior Deputy Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.
“[I]t is respectfully recommended that the attached informations for violation of Article 246 (Parricide) and Article 248 (Murder) of the Revised Penal Code be filed against respondents Dahlia Guerrero Pastor and Domingo De Guzman III y Villaruel, respectively,” the DOJ resolution said.
De Guzman allegedly masterminded the killing.
The DOJ said that while there was no direct evidence against the two, it pointed to “interlocking circumstantial evidence that would point to their connivance in the commission of the crime.”
Among the “interlocking circumstantial evidence” cited by the DOJ was the testimony of housemaid Chona Domen who gave details of the supposed illicit relationship of Guerrero and De Guzman.
The prosecution also pointed to the testimony of alleged gunman policeman Edgar Angel who said De Guzman told him to kill Pastor for allegedly beating Dalia.
Angel claimed that he met De Guzman and Guerrero in the Port of Manila and instructed him to kill Pastor the following day.
Likewise, the DOJ said Dalia’s refusal to appear during the preliminary investigation of the case can be taken against her, since “flight is indicative of guilt.”
Enzo was shot to death at the corner of Congressional and Visayas Avenues in Quezon City while on his way to attend a car racing competition in Pampanga.
He succumbed to gunshot wounds in the head, neck and arms.