Ellah Joy's Case

[Jollygoodfellow]

Interesting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Driver I saw Bella, Ian near Ellah Joy’s schoolHe was waiting for passengers when he saw a dark sports utility vehicle park near the Calajo-an Elementary School where 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique had just come out with her classmates.Habal-habal driver Harem Puerto confirmed this to Regional Trial Court Judge Ester Veloso in the hearing yesterday of a motion for bail for the accused Bella Ruby Santos.Before the hearing started, a bouquet of pink flowers was delivered by a messenger for Santos.Santos received it and handed it to a supporter.Her supporters said the flowers were sent by Santos’ British boyfriend and co-accused Ian Charles Griffiths, who is in the United Kingdom.In the hearing, Puerto alleged that Santos and Griffiths were present at the area where Ellah Joy was kidnapped over a year ago.“I was sitting on a concrete structure near the Calajo-an barangay hall (in Minglanilla), waiting for passengers when I saw a dark SUV Pajero running slowly (towards the Calajo-an Elementary School),” Puerto told the court in Cebuano.The 51-year-old Puerto was presented by lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, lead counsel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7), as their third witness.Puerto said he saw a male “foreigner” driving the vehicle with a “Filipina” passenger.“The Filipina was dark-skinned, had long hair and nose, and pretty,” Puerto said.The foreigner, on the other hand, was “handsome, fair-skinned, and not so old,” he said.When asked if the Filipina whom he saw near the Calajo-an Elementary School was present in the courtroom, Puerto pointed at Santos.He identified the “foreigner” as Griffiths when shown eight photographs of different persons.Puerto also identified the vehicle used by the couple through a photograph shown to him.He said he could clearly see Santos and Griffiths because he was very close to the vehicle.Puerto said he later learned about Ellah Joy's kidnapping at 4 p.m. last Feb. 8, 2011, and that the suspects include a foreigner.Puerto said he was brought by police to the Mactan Cebu International Airport where he was presented with the first set of suspects, Karen Esdrelon and Norwegian partner Sven-Erik Berger.Full Story here, http://cdn.ph/news_d...ls.php?id=12538

[Old55]

An ex-convict was presented yesterday by the prosecution panel as its third witness in the kidnapping with homicide case against Bella Ruby Santos and her British boyfriend Ian Charles Griffiths.Private prosecutor Inocencio dela Cerna presented Harem Puerto, 51, a trisikad driver in Lower Calajoan, Minglanilla, to corroborate the testimonies of their first two witnesses.Defense counsel Rameses Villagonzalo however questioned the witness’ credibility by presenting evidence that he was an ex-convict. Villagonzalo was able to have Puerto admit before the court that he was earlier convicted in a drug-related case as well as illegal possession of firearm.In fact, he applied for probation but was denied because he was not qualified for it. Puerto admitted he was convicted but said he had already served his sentence. He also said that when he executed his affidavit he was not under the influence of drugs.Villagonzalo said he was thankful that the prosecution presented an ex-convict because it has boosted its chances to be allowed to post bail. :th_unfair: :rolleyes: :unsure:http://www.philstar....bCategoryId=107

Edited February 14, 2012 by Old55

[Mike S]

:unsure: :th_unfair: ... been following this case with interest from day one ...... the cops who lost face the first time with their sloppy police work have just been coming up with anything to just find someone ... anyone ...... to convict of this crime ....... please remember that the kids first told the cops the so called foreigner was covered with tattoos ....... but that doesn't seem to stop them from arresting any person they need to solve their case or at least make someone pay even if they aren't guilty ....... not allowing evidence or fabricating evidence it doesn't matter just save that all important face ....... IMHO

[Markham]

At Tom's request, I am posting a round-up of the case so far.Like it or not and regardless if they admit it or not, the case is not going at all well for the prosecution. All the witnesses so far examined in court have been shown to be inconsistent with their answers and, at times, have blatantly lied.The first witness, a school girl whose testimony lasted three sessions, would have the court believe that she first identified Bella Santos and Ian Griffiths as being those responsible for Ellah Joy's disappearance and death in early February - on the same day that three other child witnesses gave affidavits which led to Berger and Esdrelon being suspected. Incredible!The second witness who appeared at the January 30th hearing was a tricycle driver who claimed he passed the vehicle that Ellah Joy allegedly boarded and overheard the female inviting Ellah Joy to take a lift home with them. During the direct examination, the prosecuting lawyer handed his witness a sheet of 8 photographs of males and to ensure that the witness correctly identified Ian Griffiths, only his photo was marked. Exactly the same happened for the identification of the vehicle informed, a sheet of photographs was shown to the witness with the image of Bella's Pajero being marked. During the defense's cross-examination, the witness was asked a very simple question about his educational attainment to which he replied "first year High School". The witness got very angry and defensive when the defense lawyer pointed-out to him that his sworn affidavit stated "third year High School". Credibility test failed.Last Monday (February 13), the prosecution fielded their third witness, a habal-habal driver, and the same prosecuting lawyer repeated his tactics of handing the witness marked photographs for identification of Ian Griffiths and the vehicle. But for the prosecution, worse was about to come. The defence team had done their homework and discovered that the witness had previous convictions for drugs and firearms offences and when they put these facts to the witness - he admitted to them! As if that wasn't enough, he also admitted to be currently breaking the law by driving his habal-habal without being in possession of a drivers' license. The prosecuting lawyer whose witness this was, was overheard being asked by another member of the prosecuting team if he knew about his witness prior convictions. "Yes" was his reply. Here and elsewhere, it is a big "no-no" to use people who have criminal convictions as witnesses for the prosecution in a criminal trial - except for exceptional circumstances where the witness was one of the co-accused and who'd turned "State's evidence". The witness' credibility shot to hell - and that of the prosecution along with it.The lawyer who presented the second and third witnesses should be reported to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and stripped of his license to practice law for flouting the Rules of Court. He is not, by the way, a State Fiscal, rather a private prosecutor employed by the Police. It will be interesting to see if he's in court on March 12 when Renante Pique is due to give evidence.

[Old55]

Thanks for the update Markham. I have no idea who killed that inocent little girl. There is very little justice in Philippines, like Mike said the police have lost face and they have found someone to be guilty.

[Markham]

Thanks for the update Markham. I have no idea who killed that inocent little girl. There is very little justice in Philippines, like Mike said the police have lost face and they have found someone to be guilty.

Unless there was family involvement or the real culprits confess, I very much doubt we will ever know who killed Ellah Joy.It need not have been like this. At the very start of the investigation, the case was handled by the human-trafficking investigative squad at CIDG-7, which is headed by an American on secondment from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They have a simple policy: they don't investigate Filipinos, period. Dollars to donuts the story about a foreigner being involved came from them and when the case was handed-out of the human-trafficking squad to "normal" policemen, they may simply have adopted the current theory and sought to find or manufacture evidence to suit their theory, rather than actually investigate the crimes. Apart from dispatching a car with a couple of police onboard to Moalboal on the 9th February where a couple were reported to have acted very suspiciously when the TV news showed the discovery of Ellah Joy's body, there hasn't been any discernable effort to find the real criminals.