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Thursday, March 30, 2006
Case v. Ecleo still strong, says fiscal
Thirty-six pieces of evidence fewer and the panel of prosecutors in the Ruben Ecleo Jr. parricide case believes that they still have a “strong chance” of getting a conviction.
City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon yesterday ordered counter-measures put in place, including a comprehensive motion for reconsideration addressed to Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Geraldine Faith Econg.
He also wants to meet with the other prosecutors to discuss strategies. Lawyers Kit Enriquez and Alfredo Sipalay, in separate interviews, said the panel will meet today.
But other lawyers are not as optimistic.
“Evidence is the key to any case. If the evidence is weak to begin with, you have a problem. And if the court excludes a number of your evidence, what are you left with?” said lawyer Gloria-Lastimosa Dalawampu.
Another lawyer, who asked not to be named, said the outcome of the case is now easy to predict.
Weakness, strength
“The defense will file a demurrer to evidence and force Judge Econg to rule on the case based only on the weight of the prosecution’s evidence. The defense doesn’t even have to present its side anymore,” the lawyer said.
“Guilt, according to the Supreme Court, does not depend on the weakness of the evidence of the defense but on the weight of the evidence of the prosecution. If the evidence of the prosecution is weak, nothing can be done about it anymore,” he said.
Dalawampu refused to comment on how the Ecleo case will most likely conclude but said Econg’s order is definitely not something for the prosecution to be happy about.
She quickly pointed out that the prosecution panel is not to blame for the exclusion, saying they took over the case at such a very late stage.
“And the evidence were all circumstantial to begin with,” she said.
Moreover, Econg was justified in excluding certain items of evidence.
“If the evidence were offered without being testified to and not being properly identified, the judge really doesn’t have much choice but to declare it as inadmissible for tending to violate the rights of the accused,” Dalawampu said.
Judicial scrutiny
And even if the evidences were testified to, if it does not prove any material allegation, it must still be excluded if only to clarify the points under judicial scrutiny.
“The bloodied shower curtains, doorknob and bed sheets may prove that an incident transpired at the time and place mentioned in the complaint but is this incident the crime being alleged?” she said.
“Is there a witness who will testify to seeing the actual crime? Did the traces of blood found on the curtains and the doorknob and the bed sheets match that of the victim’s?” Dalawampu said.
Econg, in a 30-page order released Tuesday, excluded 36 of 140 evidences offered by the prosecution as it rested its case.
The items included those found by crime scene investigators in the place where Alona Bacolod-Ecleo was allegedly killed—the bloodied bed sheets, doorknob and shower curtains.
Also excluded was the Dalaguete PNP Station’s blotter entry on the discovery of a woman’s body on Jan. 8, 2002.
Body
According to Econg, there was no testimony by any of the witnesses identifying the evidence in court.
Econg also excluded the bloodstained black garbage bag recovered in Dalaguete and alleged to be the bag where Alona Ecleo’s body was placed “because during the trial, not one of the witnesses identified this plastic bag to be bloodied.”
Econg, however, admitted into evidence the DNA analysis of Dr. Maria Corazon de Ungria and the testimony of Dr. Rachel Fortun, a forensic pathologist.
Fortun, who did a re-autopsy on the Dalaguete body, said the woman did not die of any natural disease.
“Based on the evaluation of all information gathered and correlating these to the previous findings, there is no basis to contradict the previous findings that the victim died of asphyxia by strangulation,” Fortun said.
Also, she testified, the body bore physical similarities to the description of Alona as given to her by Alona’s siblings. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 30, 2006 issue)
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