Thursday, September 18, 2008 Leviste ends presentation of evidence
AFTER more than a year of trial, former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste on Wednesday wrapped up his defense before a Makati court where he is charged with murder for killing his long-time aide Rafael delas Alas.
The camp of Leviste, in a hearing at the sala of Judge Elmo Alameda, presented a video footage taken by GMA-7 television network on the ocular inspection conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the crime scene in Leviste-owned LPL Tower, Legaspi Village, Makati on January 31, 2007.
Lawyer Jose Vener Ibarra of the television network testified on the authenticity of the footage, which he confirmed to the court.
Ibarra's testimony and the TV footage is the last of the defense's sur-rebuttal witness evidence as Leviste, through his lawyer Henry Capela, ended their presentation to counter the prosecution's argument that the former governor murdered de las Alas on January 12, 2007.
Capela said they presented the video to prove that their witnesses who earlier testified including the Leviste's three employees, namely, Josue Ungsod, Tomas Rementezo, and Majid Ismael are there when the prosecution led by Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco did the reinvestigation.
The footage support the statements of defense witnesses who recounted how Velasco "illegally" got hold of the prosecution evidence, including a logbook of guests entering and leaving the LPL Tower, he added.
In the video, Velasco said they were doing a physical overview at the scene of the crime to find evidences that will show whether there is a self-defense really happened when Leviste shot de las Alas.
Judge Alameda earlier said the security logbook that noted delas Alas's arrival on the morning of January 12, 2007 at the LPL Tower hours before he was killed following a heated argument with Leviste is part of the prosecution's defense.
Ungsod, Rementezo, and Ismael told the court last September 3 how the prosecution forcibly confiscated from their possession the security logbook of the LPL Tower.
The defense said the acts of Velasco in taking the logbook and chair at the office of the accused are improper.
"He (Velasco) is not doing the proper procedures," Capella said of the video footage. "He has no court order. He is not given outright authorities to do all of these."
"The video showed vividly how he grabbed the logbook without proper approval," Leviste said referring to Velasco.
He added: "That's illegal seizure of evidence. It is a poisoned truth. It is not edible."
But Velasco is confident the footage amounted to nothing in the overall aspect of the case and said the prosecution's evidence is more than enough to secure a conviction.
"We are confident that we can secure a conviction not only because the defense miserably failed to prove self-defense but also we believe that God is on the side of victims like de las Alas who was brutally murdered with the culprit trying to evade responsibility through legal technicalities, influence, money and pure lies. He can't escape the long arm of the law," Velasco said.
He added that instead of bolstering the defense's case, the footage only strengthened the prosecution's argument as gave the court the opportunity to see the crime scene.
"It only strengthened further our case because it gave the court an opportunity to see the crime scene," he said.
At the same time, Velasco refuted Leviste's claim that he forcefully took the logbook from the guard on duty. He said the footage even showed Capela accompanying them to the National Bureau of Investigation office to witness the photocopying of the logbook.
He also said that a reenactment of the incident showed the impossibility of de las Alas trying to draw his weapon before he was shot.
"This only gave credence to out assertion that that the gun found with the victim was planted that's why we also adopted the video as part of our evidence," he added.
Meanwhile, Judge Alameda gave the defense 15 days to file the formal offer of evidence and 15 days for the prosecution to file their comment or objection. (AH/Sunnex)
