Thursday, July 10, 2008 Witness says de las Alas was shot at close range
A FORMER National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) medico-legal officer described as point blank one of the four head bullet wounds suffered by Rafael de las Alas who was hot to death early last year by former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste.
Turning up as the "very important" witness for the prosecution during Wednesday's resumption of the murder trial of Leviste before the sala of Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda, Dr. Ernesto Gimenez pointed out that the particular wound sustained by de las Alas - a forehead shot - resulted in a star-shaped ("stellate') wound and not a round one, which would be caused by a bullet coming from a bit farther.
"That is a contact wound. The (handgun's) muzzle must not be more than one inch away from the forehead to achieve this kind of wound," said the white-haired Gimenez, who testified for two hours.
This ran contradictory to the testimony of Leviste last January 23, wherein it was surmised that he sat a table's distance away from his business partner and confidant de las Alas.
Leviste, in the same testimony, claimed to have killed de las Alas in self-defense on the morning of January 12, 2007 when the victim arrived "early for work, armed and in a combative mood."
The accused narrated that he repeatedly shot the victim for fear that he might still be able to fire at him, even after beating him to the draw.
Aside from the four head wounds, de las Alas also bore a "flesh wound" in the left forearm.
Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, through the witness, tried to impress the presiding judge that even one bullet was enough to disable the victim, somewhat suggesting an overkill on Leviste's part.
"Based on my experience as medico-legal officer, any gunshot to the head is considered fatal. It may not cause death instantaneously but it will ultimately lead to death," said Gimenez, who worked for the NBI from 1965 to 1977.
Gimenez pointed out that a head shot could render a person unconscious at the very least, and therefore "no longer capable of other faculties."
As for the forearm injury, Gimenez said it was not fatal in itself but the trajectory of the bullet suggests that it passed through the forearm and then landed at de las Alas' face.
"If we re-orient the direction of the bullet, then there is a re-entry wound in the face," he said, adding that the bullet traversed through the victim's brain.
"Impossible," answered Gimenez when asked by Velasco if de las Alas could still fire his gun in that state.
Gimenez also noted de las Alas' "varied positions" on some photos showing that the victim was loosely holding his handgun, not in a manner that was "ready to shoot" as claimed by the defense.
"Parang ilinagay lang sa kamay ng biktima (It seemed that the gun was placed on the victim's hand)," he said.
For their part, the defense led by lawyer Henry Capela assailed the witness' knack for making conclusions by merely looking at pictures of the crime scene.
Capela on numerous occasions questioned Gimenez's competency to testify, saying that the new prosecution witness "was no longer an expert" since it has been 30 years when he was a medico-legal officer.
Meanwhile, Leviste said he was "disappointed" with Gimenez's contact wound theory. He said the defense chose to forego cross-examination because the witness' statement was not worth a grain of salt.
"He is a piece of high-falluting non-sense. Velasco went out to orbit with this one," the former governor said.
Earlier, the defense questioned the prosecution's presentation of additional witnesses after Velasco did not appear during last June 25's hearing where he was supposed to present a security guard at the Leviste-owned LPL Tower where the incident took place saying the prosecution has waived its right to present rebuttal witnesses.
Alameda sustained the defense's argument but later reversed position and granted Velasco's request. He, however, reminded the prosecutor to present only "relevant" witnesses. (AH/Sunnex)
