Saturday, July 19, 2008 Bail plea denied in Batman slay By Rhodamae M. Hernandez
JUDGE Renato A. Fuentes denied the petition for bail filed by the suspect in the shooting to death of broadcaster Fernando "Batman" Lintuan after finding the evidence of the prosecution strong.
In a resolution, Judge Fuentes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 17 said: "There is no irreconcilable inconsistency between what the young witness said in open court and his sworn statement, and that the two were complementary with each other."
"Although there are inconsistencies in the observed and gathered testimony of the witness minor for the prosecution, such do not emanate from a deliberate intention to defeat the objective of truth and justice but are product of human frailties, inherent in almost all witness to remember what they see and observe," the resolution continued.
The prosecution earlier presented the 15-year-old lone witness, the cartographer, NBI assistant regional director Celso Ginga, Dr. Edgar Savella, who conducted the autopsy, and lawyer Arcelito C. Albao of the NBI who made the affidavit and supplemental affidavit of the witness.
Leonilo Larosa, a blocktimer at dxGO, is the suspect in the killing of Lintuan on December 24, 2007 after he was positively identified by one of three witnesses.
Lintuan was shot dead at close range along R. Castillo Street in Agdao while driving his Volkswagen from his radio station.
Larosa was earlier charged with illegal possession of firearms after a search operation yielded Colt Mark IV series 80, a caliber .38 Super Pistol; four magazines; 32 rounds of caliber .38 ammunition; one magazine pouch; one outside gun holster; and one black clutch bag from his Pajero, the subject of the search warrant issued by Judge Isaac Robillo.
