Government prosecutors still confident of clinching guilty verdict vs de Lima
GOVERNMENT prosecutors on Wednesday asserted that the camp of detained Sen. Leila de Lima failed to destroy the probative value of the testimony of their witness during last Tuesday’s hearing on the drug case filed against her before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Muntinlupa City.
This, despite prosecution witness Joel Capones being subjected to a grueling two-hour cross-examination by de Lima’s counsel during the hearing presided by Judge Romeo S. Buenaventura of RTC, Branch 256.
The cross-examination was aimed at destroying his testimony and credibility as a state witness against the senator who has been accused of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) when she was still secretary of the Department of Justice.
De Lima, along with several co-accused including Ronnie Dayan and Jad de Vera, were accused of conspiring and confederating with each other to commit illegal drugs trading, particularly violation of Section 26 (b) in relation to Section 5, Section 3 (jj), and Section 28 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
In an interview after the hearing, the DOJ prosecution panel led by Provincial Prosecution Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo Jr. claimed that Capones’s testimony “remains solid ” even after the cross-examination.
Ocampo stressed that as far as the prosecution is concerned, Capones’s testimony was very clear and categorical that sometime in March 5, 2014 he saw alleged drug lord Jaybee Sebastian hand over to de Lima P1.4 million in alleged drug money.
“In his testimony, [Capones] delivered first the money to Jaybee Sebastian—the P1.4 million, and when the senatorthensecretaryofjusticearrived, Jaybee Sebastian handed the money to Secretary de Lima. That is part of the testimony,” Ocampo told reporters.
“His testimony is very clear as far as we are concerned. We leave it to the court for its appreciation of our evidence as far as the gist of the testimony of Joel Capones,” he stressed.
Ocampo said the prosecution panel would ask the court to put Capones on the stand anew for redirect examination once the defense wraps its cross-examination.
During his testimony before the court, Capones claimed that Sebastian prodded him to engage in illegal drug trading to raise funds to support the senatorial bid of the former justice secretary.
Capones admitted that he indeed transacted illegal drugs or shabu to heed the directive of Sebastian because he was convinced and impressed with the latter’s apparent strong inf luence with the previous administration, particularly with de Lima.
Capones narrated that in March 2014, during the anniversary of the
Commando Sigue-sigue organization, he delivered the amount of P1.4 million to Sebastian as quota payment of the shabu drugs that he sold.
He also claimed that he personally witnessed Sebastian handed over to de Lima the P1.4 million that he delivered to the alleged drug lord.
In light of Capones’s admission that he traded drugs inside the NBP, de Lima’s camp had asked Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to indict Capones also for illegal drug trading.
Meanwhile, Guevarra indicated that de Lima’s conviction “appears inevitable” unless she would be able to refute the evidence presented by the Department of Justice accusing her of conspiracy to commit illegal drugs trading inside the NBP in Muntinlupa City when she was still justice secretary.
“In denying Senator de Lima’s demurrer to evidence, the trial judge concluded that, unless rebutted, the prosecution’s evidence is sufficient to convict the accused,” Guevarra said, in a text message to reporters.
Guevarra made the statement after Presiding Judge Liezel Aquiatan of Muntinlupa City RTC, Branch 205 denied last week the separate demurrer to evidence of de Lima and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan. A demurrer to evidence is a plea to dismiss a case on the basis of weak evidence presented by the prosecution.
The court also junked the petition for bail by de Lima and Dayan who are both accused of conspiring and confederating with each other to commit illegal drugs trading, particularly violation of Section 26 (b) in relation to Section 5, Section 3 (jj), and Section 28 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The denial of the demurrer to evidence paves the way for the court’s reception of the defense evidence to refute the allegations and testimonies of the prosecution witnesses on March 5, 2021.
“In denying the senator’s petition for bail, the trial court found that the evidence against the accused is strong,” Guevarra stressed.
In denying Senator de Lima’s demurrer to evidence, the trial judge concluded that, unless rebutted, the prosecution’s evidence is sufficient to convict the accused. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra