Saturday, December 08, 2007 Ombudsman drops case v. prosecutor
THE anti-graft office has dismissed the criminal complaint filed against a government prosecutor for allegedly taking a court file on a case against her and for removing from the folder photos of the person who filed the charge.
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez approved the recommendation of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas last month yet. The office found no probable cause to charge Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro.
The recommendation, penned by Graft Investigator Richard Bauzon, noted that nobody testified to support complainant Jake Yu’s allegation in the original complaint that only one of the two photos was returned.
Explanation
Moreover, while Castro did not deny taking the case files and removing the photo last Aug. 12, 2005, there is nothing to contradict her explanation—both to the anti-graft office and to Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Judge Rosabella Tormis, who had custody over the files.
Castro had said that she only wanted to “borrow” the folder to photocopy the photo and use it as an attachment for a pleading to be filed in a separate case.
She said she wasn’t able to ask for permission because she was running late for a mass she wanted to hear at another floor at the Palace of Justice.
“By returning the said picture, this office sees no damage done by her to the picture taken. Hence, the element of damage is wanting,” Bauzon’s recommendation read.
Yu charged Castro for malicious mischief over the alleged theft. Previous to this, the two had exchanged charges stemming from a traffic incident.
Desistance
Castro yesterday said she was dropping all charges she filed against the businessman “in the spirit of Christmas” and showed Sun.Star Cebu an affidavit of desistance she had prepared.
In his complaint before the anti-graft office, Yu expressed fear that there was something sinister behind the theft of the photo. He narrated that previous to the incident, he noticed men doing surveillance outside his office in downtown Cebu City.
“It is every obvious that Castro was motivated by her evil intent to harm me when she stole and removed my pictures...from the records of the criminal case and I have every reason to fear for my life,” Yu said in his affidavit.
Misconduct
Judge Tormis, even after Castro’s explanation, fined Castro with P5,000 for indirect contempt last Aug. 22, 2005 after finding her guilty of gross misconduct for filching the pictures.
But other than that, no other disciplinary action was taken. (KNR)
