THE camp of former senator Leila de Lima has asked the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to dismiss her remaining drugs case over the failure of the prosecutor to prove her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
De Lima’s lawyer filed on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, an amended demurrer to evidence before the Muntinlupa RTC-Branch 206 which seeks her acquittal from the case.
Her lawyers noted in the motion that the prosecution has not only failed to present sufficient evidence that would sustain a judgment of conviction beyond reasonable doubt but it has more so failed to present strong evidence of the accused's guilt.
They maintained that the testimonies of the witnesses were hearsay, noting that they were convicted criminals.
"Being criminal convicts, the same principle on the unreliability and untrustworthiness of their testimony as applied by the Honorable Court in its… order to the bail testimonies of their co-inmates at the New Bilibid Prison is likewise applicable to them," the lawyers said in a statement.
The two witnesses were Rodolfo Magleo and Nonilo Arile, who have both recanted their testimonies against De Lima.
Magleo earlier accused De Lima of benefitting from the illegal drugs operations of big-time drug lords in the New Bilibid Prison during her term as the secretary of the Department of Justice.
Arile said the funds are intended to fund De Lima’s senatorial candidacy in 2016.
In November, De Lima was released after almost seven years of detention after the Muntinlupa Court granted her bail petition for her remaining drug case.
The charges were filed against De Lima under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte over her alleged involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.
Two other drug charges against her were dismissed in February 2021 and May 2023. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)