Charges against 2 cops in teens’ slay dropped

The Caloocan City Regional Trial Court has dismissed the murder charges filed against the two former police officers accused in the killing of teenagers Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman for lack of jurisdiction.

In a resolution dated May 9 but released to the media yesterday, Branch 122 Judge Georgina Hidalgo dismissed criminal cases against PO1s Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita.

The court ruled that the cases were “filed in a wrong venue."

The decision came after Department of Justice prosecutors filed a motion to withdraw the charges so that the cases could be refiled in the proper court.

The question of venue was raised after it surfaced during the cross-examination on March 2 of an eyewitness, Joe Daniel, that Arnaiz and De Guzman were killed along C3 Road near Dalagang Bukid and Tanigue Streets.

The prosecution discovered that the crime scene falls under the jurisdiction of Navotas City, and not Caloocan as earlier alleged.

The prosecution, however, did not withdraw the charges of torture and planting of evidence against the officers, believing that "these offenses happened in Caloocan City."

Defense lawyer Dodjie Encinas argued that the withdrawal of the case is improper since the trial has begun. Encinas also objected the partial withdrawal of the charges, saying all the cases should be dropped and refiled in the proper court.

But Hidalgo said that "the court cannot agree with the theory of the prosecution to merely withdraw the two informations for murder but instead find the contention of the accused more tenable because this court is not at liberty deviate with any existing legal procedures under the pain of grave abuse of discretion, nor ignorance with existing legal practice."

Xerxes Garcia, head of the prosecution, said they have refiled the murder charges in the Navotas court.

Hidalgo also denied the motion for reconsideration allowing the transfer of the accused to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The death of Arnaiz, 19, and De Guzman, 14, along with Kian Lloyd Delos Santos, 17, sparked public outrage against the government's war on drugs.