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Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Liu accused, he did not admit: defense lawyer argues in motion
By Karlon N. Rama/Giovannie A. Nilles
WITNESS-turned-accused Bernard Liu has strengthened his motion for the court to determine if there is probable cause behind the Department of Justice (DOJ) resolution to charge him for drug trafficking.
This as Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 17 Judge Silvestre Maamo Jr. yesterday ordered the consolidation of the drug case against Liu pending in his sala with those in three other branches. This is to prevent conflicting resolutions and decisions, he said.
‘Ludicrous’
Judge Maamo does not want a “ludicrous spectacle” of having four RTC branches in Cebu City hearing the same cases that arose from the same incidents and dates, and later give out four completely different decisions.
Liu was charged in court for violating Section 3, Article 2 of Republic Act 6425, which penalizes the importation and transport of dangerous or prohibited drugs.
He submitted a memorandum offering additional arguments against the controversial DOJ resolution, which cited Liu’s admission before a House inquiry he smuggled drugs for businessman-brothers Peter and Wellington Lim.
‘Observer’
“The sworn statement of Liu is not an admission but an accusation against the Lim brothers. Admissions or declarations to be competent must have been expressed in definite, certain and unequivocal language,” the motion prepared by lawyer Briccio Joseph Boholst said.
“Stated differently, Liu is a mere passive observer. He does not facilitate the acquisition of the drug but merely accompanies Wellington in the trip,” the memorandum said.
Lawyer Elias Espinoza, who represented the Lim brothers when the House committee on dangerous drugs investigated the duo, filed the complaint against Liu.
The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor dismissed the charge, but Espinoza filed a petition for review that got elevated all the way to the Office of the Justice Secretary.
Liu, a former employee of the Lims, had implicated the brothers in the importation of shabu from Hong Kong in August 1989 and 1992 and in April 1992 and 1996.
4 occasions
In each of these occasions, at least 10 kilos of shabu were reportedly placed in boxes stacked in golf club bags, and transported to Cebu through commercial flights.
The DOJ, though, has not implicated the Lim brothers as no one complained against them.
Liu is now asking the court to determine if probable cause exists to warrant the charge.
He said that while he testified to having brought shabu into the country for the Lims, “probable cause cannot be determined merely on the basis of a confession or admission that is uncorroborated by some independent proof.”
Independent proof may be shabu that he brought into the country.
Similarly, he argued that the statement he made to the congressional committee cannot be used against him in any criminal case.
“Witnesses may speak their minds freely and exercise their respective functions without incurring the risk of criminal prosecution or an action for the recovery of damages,” he said, citing the Supreme Court in Sison vs. David.
Different courts
Because Liu confirmed importing at least 10 kilos of shabu on four occasions, he was charged four times. But the cases landed in four different drug court branches. This prompted defense lawyer Danilo Yap to call for the consolidation of the cases in one sala.
Judge Meinrado Paredes, RTC Branch 13, hears today Yap’s motion for judicial determination of probable cause and for delaying the issuance of a warrant of arrest against Liu.
Judge Fortunato de Gracia Jr. is set to issue an order on the same motion on Wednesday. The case in the sala of Branch 57 Judge Enriqueta Loquillano-Belarmino didn’t move as the judge is on leave.
In ordering the re-raffling and consolidation of the case from his sala, Judge Maamo stressed that the judges may view the same facts differently.
(December 16, 2003 issue)
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