Kerwin Espinosa arraignment reset to Aug 29

MANILA — The arraignment of confessed drug trader Kerwin Espinosa and his co-accused has been reset to August 29.

Espinosa’s drug trading charge was raffled off to the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 64 and he was supposed to have been arraigned on Thursday, August 2.

It was rescheduled because of a pending motion for reconsideration that his lawyers filed.

Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Juan Pedro Navera, Anna Noreen Devanadera and Prosecution Attorney Herbert Calvin Abugan charged Espinosa, convicted drug lord Peter Co, Lovely Impal and Ruel Maindangan with conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade.

Prosecutors had dismissed an earlier complaint that the Philippine National Police- Criminal Investigation and Detective Group filed against Espinosa and the others, saying evidence was weak.

They pointed out t hat t here were “inconsistencies” in witness Marcelo Adorco's testimonies.

In the new preliminary investigation conducted, Navera said that other pieces of evidence were presented to the panel, such as the stenographic notes of the Senate committee on justice and public order, where Espinosa confessed to being a distributor of drugs in Regions 7 and 8.

“There were interlocking confessions not just of Adorco, but with other respondents as well, so if there are interlocking admissions under the law on evidence we can find probable cause,” Navera added.

Navera added that the “inconsistencies” in Adorco’s testimony would be best tried by the local court. —