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Saturday, June 12, 2004
Suspect in Choy shooting positive of powder burns
By Karlon N. Rama and Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- A case for frustrated murder was filed Friday against John Lloyd Ortiz, the 21-year-old college sophomore who allegedly tried to kill broadcaster Cirse "Choy" Torralba over a girl.
But even before Ortiz could be formally charged, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Ireneo Gako ordered him freed on bail, set at P200,000, after family members filed a petition for his release.
Results of the paraffin test conducted on Ortiz revealed the presence of gunpowder nitrates on both hands.
Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar said that while this strengthened their case, they relied more on the testimony of driver Randy Libradilla, who claimed he saw Ortiz fire at him and Torralba.
Torralba, after seeing a picture, is "80 percent sure" but would like to confront Ortiz face to face.
Lawyer Haide Acuņa said that Ortiz and his family will eventually ask the court to determine probable cause, adding that they've already gathered their own witnesses.
She stressed the defense's point that Ortiz is being used as "a fall guy" by a police force "pressured" to show results.
"Of course the paraffin test shows him positive (of gunpowder burns) but we all know anybody can write anything in any report," she said.
The respondent and his family did not opt for a preliminary investigation and decided, instead, to take their chances before the RTC.
Operatives of the PNP homicide division brought Ortiz, who hid his face with a piece of clothing and came with a phalanx of relatives and friends who shielded him from news photographers, to the Palace of Justice Friday afternoon.
He however had to shed his cover upon the request of the building's security officials.
"If we don't see his face clearly, we won't be able to notice if he suddenly manages to slip from his escorts and calmly walks out of here," one of the security inspectors explained.
Ortiz continued to remain silent even when brought before Assistant City Prosecutor Victor Laborte.
Laborte, who had to make a quick trip to the Cebu Doctors' Hospital to subscribe Torralba's affidavit, recommended the filing of a frustrated murder case against Ortiz based on "uncontroverted police evidence."
He however acknowledged this was part of the defense lawyers' strategy because "they just wanted to post bail immediately."
Ortiz was not committed to the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center because of Gako's order of release.
"No less than the 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees the right to bail," Ortiz said in his petition for bail, prepared by Acuņa and fellow defense lawyer Kim Anthony Castro.
"At most, the case that may be filed against herein petitioner is frustrated murder, which is not punishable by reclusion perpetua.
Moreover, there is no showing that the evidence of guilt is strong. Failing of both requisites, as mandated by the Constitution, the petitioner's right to bail cannot be denied," the petition added.
Acuņa, in an interview, questioned the way her client was arrested.
"This was not a valid warrantless arrest," she maintained.
SPO4 Monilar drew up the frustrated murder complaint filed against Ortiz before the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor Friday.
Attached to the complaint were Torralba's affidavit, that of driver Libradilla, Torralba's medical certificate, the affidavit of the police officers who arrested Ortiz and an assortment of Scene of the Crime Operations and PNP Crime Laboratory reports.
Supt. Pablo Labra II, Monilar and homicide operatives Antonio Cortes, Jesus Moga, Diomedes Fajardo and Roger Denamo, in a joint affidavit, described how Ortiz was identified and taken into custody.
They said it was Torralba who provided them with the information leading to the arrest.
Torralba, they revealed, said he had a friend, Yvonne Ygbuhay, who worked with him in Sen. Loren Legarda's campaign bureau. He said the girl's boyfriend, a certain John Lloyd Ortiz, suspected that he and the girl were having an affair and was jealous.
The police said they obtained a photograph, supposedly from Ygbuhay. They then showed the photo to Torralba and his driver, and the two identified him as the assailant.
They then tracked Ortiz down and, on Thursday afternoon, found him in his uncle's home in Villas Magallanes, Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.
It was Libradilla who first identified Ortiz.
Monilar wanted to bring Ortiz to the Cebu Doctors' Hospital Friday so Torralba could confirm if Ortiz was indeed the man who shot him or not.
But Acuņa would not allow it and declined to put the refusal in writing, saying her client had rights.
In a separate interview, Acuņa explained that bringing Ortiz to the hospital room was not the proper procedure. She insisted that if Torralba was to identify the gunman, Ortiz would have to be in a police line-up.
She also questioned the legality of the arrest, saying it could not be considered a hot pursuit operation.
Monilar, however, argued that 48 hours after the crime was committed was well within the prescribed period for a hot pursuit operation, which he said was 72 hours.
Under the Rules of Court, a warrantless arrest is valid "when an offense has in fact just been committed and (the arresting officer) has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it."
(June 12, 2004 issue)
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