Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Court clears Dumpit: complainant no-show By Jujemay G. Awit Sun.Star Staff Reporter
SPO1 Adonis Dumpit of the Cebu City police is freed of one criminal case.
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 20 Judge Bienvenido Saniel ordered the “provisional dismissal” of the frustrated murder case against Dumpit after the complainant failed to appear in court for at least three consecutive hearings.
When complainant Wilson Borja was a no-show at the hearing last Aug. 30, Dumpit’s lawyer Pedro Leslie Salva said the case should be dismissed for the complainant’s lack of interest to prosecute.
Saniel gave Borja one more chance, which was yesterday, but the latter again did not show up.
Borja accused Dumpit of shooting him and his friend Rolando Mejarito at Pier 4 on Aug. 27, 2004 for “no apparent reason.”
The two men identified Dumpit as the assailant, saying they know what he looks like since they frequently see him on board a police car and on TV.
Borja was hit at the back of his head while Mejarito was hit in the left armpit.
Borja filed a frustrated murder charge against Dumpit but the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office downgraded it to frustrated homicide in the absence of qualifying circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation.
Dumpit, for his part, said it was only a case of mistaken identity.
The policeman said he was grateful for the case’s dismissal.
“Nakamata na siguro siya (Borja) nga dili gyud ako ang nakapusil niya (Maybe he (Borja) finally realized that I was not the gunman),” Dumpit said of Borja’s failure to pursue the case.
However, Dumpit is not yet absolutely free as he is still facing a case for serious physical injuries before a Municipal Trial Court in Cities for injuries that Mejarito suffered during the alleged shooting.
Dumpit is currently at the Regional Training School (RTS) 7 as part of PNP’s mandatory schooling for promotion.
Last July 19, Prosecutor Rogelio del Prado Jr. was supposed to present Borja to testify on the incident, but the victim was not around. Borja’s mother asked for a resetting.
During the next scheduled hearing on Aug. 30, both Borja and his mother failed to appear.
