Sandigan affirms acquittal of Pasay prosecutor for graft

The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the acquittal of Pasay City assistant prosecutor John Giselher Imperial for graft from his alleged act of demanding bribe money and sexual favors from a private complainant in 2007.

In a five-page resolution dated Jan. 16 but released only yesterday, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division found no merit in the ombudsman’s petition seeking reversal of its Nov. 3, 2016 decision acquitting Imperial of violation of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The Sandiganbayan maintained that the case against Imperial did not involve any government contract, thus the key element of the charged offense was missing.

“It must be stressed that in every criminal prosecution, the state must prove beyond reasonable doubt all the elements of the crime charged and the complicity or participation of the accused otherwise, the guarantee of due process of law is nullified,” read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Roland Jurado.

Associate Justices Rafael Lagos and Ma. Theresa Mendoza-Arcega concurred with the ruling.

The court also cited the defendant’s constitutional rights against double jeopardy.

While Imperial was acquitted of graft, the Sandiganbayan found him guilty of direct bribery and sentenced him to two years in prison.

A conviction in the graft case would have put Imperial in jail from six to 10 years.

The cases stemmed from Imperial’s alleged act of demanding P20,000, which was later reduced to P10,000 from Herstina Bacud in June 2007.

Bacud at the time has a pending oral defamation complaint against her neighbor before Imperial’s office.

Imperial supposedly demanded the bribe money in exchange for a favorable ruling in the complaint. He also allegedly asked Bacud to have sex with him.

“It is clear that the defendant received the money and planned a sexual tryst in consideration of a favorable resolution,” the court said.

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