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Saturday, September 18, 2004
Lawyer held, freaks out
By Garry Cabotaje Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Grecar Nilles
ARMED with a bench warrant, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 operatives yesterday arrested lawyer Daryll Roque Amante Jr. in Dumaguete City for failing to appear in the arraignment and pre-trial of a frustrated homicide case he is facing.
Contrary to Amante’s claim that he turned himself in, a report of NBI district office in Dumaguete City showed that he resisted, went hysterical and even threatened lawmen of bad consequences for arresting him.
The report stated that NBI 7 agents, led by lawyer Dominador Cimafranca, had to put Amante in jail just to calm him shortly after he was arrested and brought to the bureau’s office past 6 a.m.
Amante said he was about to board his vehicle on his way to the Duma-guete City port when he saw NBI agents, prompting him to surrender. He was scheduled to take a fastcraft as he was going to attend a court hearing in Bohol.
Upon NBI 7 Director Reynaldo Esmeralda’s order, an NBI team took Amante to the bureau’s regional office in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City. They arrived past 2 p.m.
Right after he entered Esmeralda’s office, Amante, in a loud voice, said: “This is a very minor case. I’m a lawyer, I’m not a hardened criminal.”
After he was fingerprinted at the NBI 7 office, Amante was brought directly to court for his arraignment.
At the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Ireneo Lee Gako Jr., Amante pleaded not guilty to the charge of shooting 19-year-old Owen Veraque last Dec. 9, 2002.
Defense
Defending himself in court, Amante also told Gako he will not enter into any bargaining agreement with Veraque, whose right eye got blind because of the shooting incident.
“I have a good defense in this case, your honor,” Amante said.
When Gako suggested the pre-trial be set on Sept. 30, Amante objected to it, saying it was too close from his arraignment, aside from the fact that he has to attend to three to four cases every day, which elicited grins from other lawyers.
The lawyers’ grins turned into giggles when Amante, after Gako had thanked the lawyer for complying with the court order about his arrest, said “No, very bad. I mean, defiance of the order of the court is very bad.”
Irregular
While in Esmeralda’s office, Amante said the bench warrant issued by Gako meant that “the judge only wants to see his face, as I want to see his face also.”
But Amante questioned the issuance of the Sept. 8 warrant, describing it as irregular because it would become final and executory after a 15-day period.
Also, Amante said he filed a motion for reconsideration last Monday, asking the court that the issuance of a bench warrant and the order seizing his cash bond be both lifted. Both were granted yesterday after the arraignment.
“Had the judge not lifted it (the warrant), he would have been the first lawyer to be detained at the underground jail of this bureau,” Esmeralda said.
Amante said he failed to attend the arraignment last Sept. 8 because he had to attend two separate cases, one a child abuse case.
Gako assumed the handling of Amante’s frustrated homicide case as RTC Judge Anacleto Caminade, the hearing judge, is serving a six-month suspension.
Amante said Gako, being a pairing judge, should not have issued the warrant because his case is not an urgent matter.
“...in this case, there is no matter that is urgent; what makes the matter urgent was the overjealousy (sic) of the public prosecutor in handling this case,” read his motion.
He said Gako should not have proceeded in hearing the case pending results of his petition for review filed with the Department of Justice.
His petition questioned the recommendations of Assistant City Prosecutor Victor Laborte to hold him for trial.
Amante said he did not actually hit Veraque when he fired his gun as the latter only fell from the roof and injured himself in the forehead after he fired warning shots.
Amante added that Caminade had issued an order suspending the proceedings of the case because of his pending petition.
But a July 15 resolution signed by DOJ Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuńo showed that it already dismissed Amante’s appeal.
It stated that the Justice Department found no such error committed by Laborte “that would justify the reversal of the assailed resolution.”
(September 18, 2004 issue)
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