Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Crime scene lapses ‘won’t affect evidence’ vs. robbery suspects By Mia E. Abellana Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THOUGH photos taken of the crime scene in Carcar City appeared as if police moved most of the evidence around before crime scene investigators could arrive, the chief of the Regional Crime Laboratory said this would not affect the case to be filed against the surviving robbery suspect.
Crime Lab Director Nestor Sator told reporters that what was important was the “chain of custody” of the evidence.
“There must be a proper turnover. If that is followed, there are no lapses,” Sator said.
Photos taken by a Sun.Star Cebu contributor immediately after the shootout showed that Nelson Gutierrez Jr. fell face down while there was no firearm beside him.
In the succeeding photos when other journalists arrived, the .45 pistol was placed beside him and he was lying on his back.
The gun reportedly fell into a ditch nearby and was picked up by a police officer.
When the Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) arrived, all the firearms and spent shells were gathered in a box and turned over by the local police to them.
Sator said the case against Ricoly Igoy would not be affected because he was caught in the act and there were many witnesses who saw what happened.
Sator added that the shooting ended in the middle of a two-lane highway and caused a traffic jam after Gutierrez slumped on the ground.
Curious onlookers would also ruin the crime scene, he added.
“It was their call. There were too many people and it would not have been easy to preserve the crime scene given the circumstances,” Sator said in Bisaya.
Face down
Senior Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, Cebu Provincial Police Office director, admitted that policemen in Carcar City moved the evidence and Gutierrez’s body as a safety precaution and to secure the area.
He explained that while Gutierrez fell face down on the ground, they had to turn him over to see if he had any other weapons or was armed with a hand grenade.
Valmoria stressed that they could not have risked the possibility of a grenade exploding in the middle of Poblacion 2, with so many onlookers and vehicles passing through.
As for the scattered cash, he said they could not leave this lying on the ground in the middle of the highway and had to pick these up lest these are blown away by the wind.
He also assured that they coordinated with the Soco.
Sator confirmed that he got the call from Valmoria, prompting him to send a team from the Regional Crime Laboratory.
