THE prosecution said Friday the camp of former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste misled the court when they presented as witness a disbarred lawyer.

In an "Omnibus Reply," Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said Leviste and his lawyer, Henry Capela, deceived Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Elmo Alameda when they presented Orlando Rayos as a lawyer despite the fact he was already disbarred by the Supreme Court in 1998.

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Rayos, who took the witness stand as one of the former governor's sur-rebuttal witnesses in the ongoing murder trial, was removed from the legal service due to a complaint lodged by a relative whom he duped of some P588,000 in 1985.

"Capela and Rayos both missed the point in their futile effort to hide their misdeeds before this Honorable Court. Capela cannot argue that the defense did not falsely claim that Rayos was still a lawyer when he took the witness stand, neither can Rayos say he did not introduce himself as a lawyer and that he merely testified with regard to what he allegedly witnesses," Velasco said.

"Both Capela and Rayos have acted in bad faith in misrepresenting that Rayos is still a lawyer when the latter took the witness stand," he added.

The prosecutor said his main concern was that a lawyer is accorded more credibility whenever he or she took the witness stand.

"Both should know too well, as a lawyer and a former lawyer, respectively, the reality that a lawyer who sits on a witness stand has the upper hand in terms of credibility especially in the point of view of a judge. This is precisely because it is presumed that they are testifying also under their lawyer's oath," said Velasco.

Earlier, Leviste through Capela blasted Velasco's motion asking the court to verify the identity of Rayos if he is indeed the disbarred lawyer.

Leviste said the Department of Justice's motion was "misplaced" as Rayos was presented not in his capacity as a lawyer but rather regarding his personal knowledge on the behavior of his aide, Rafael delas Alas, whom he admitted shooting to death last January 12, 2007 after a heated argument.

"The prosecution's motion was not only misplaced but also laughable. Did Prosecutor Velasco study the court records that the witness' testimony was based on his personal knowledge of delas Alas behavior and not his capacity as a lawyer," said Capela in a phone interview.

He was referring to Rayos's testimony that delas Alas, contrary to what the prosecution portrayed him to be a kind man, has a bad temper and prone to verbal outburst.

He added that Velasco is trying to paint the defense's witness in a bad light as he has already run out of "tricks" in his effort to convince the court that Leviste murdered his long-time aide.

The court is set to issue a ruling on the controversial case soon after both parties wrapped up their presentation and submitted their respective memoranda on their witnesses and evidence presented. (AH/Sunnex)

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(November 22, 2008 issue)
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