Evangelista slay judge declines to inhibit self

THE JUDGE hearing the Venson Evangelista murder case has junked the motion for inhibition filed against her by one of the accused.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 215 Judge Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla, in an order issued on June 7, denied the motion filed by Alfred Mendiola a month earlier.

Mendiola accused Padilla of bias and being swayed by public opinion during his arraignment despite his admission in the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program, and the fact that his name had been dropped from the list of accused of the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

The judge said the motion had no legal basis and lacked proof.
“The Supreme Court has declared in a case that the mere imputation of bias or partiality is not enough ground for inhibition … Acts or conduct clearly indicative of arbitrariness or prejudice has to be shown. Extrinsic evidence must further be presented to establish bias, bad faith, malice, or corrupt purpose,” Padilla said in her ruling.

Mendiola’s lawyer, Willie Rivera, said that instead of ruling on their motion to discharge Mendiola as a state witness, Padilla ordered his client’s arraignment on April 11, entered a plea of not guilty for him and even asked the city prosecutor to prove Mendiola was qualified to be admitted as a witness.

“The Honorable Presiding judge has already prejudged the guilt of the accused,” the lawyer said in the inhibition petition.