Canadian Citizen Killed In Surigao City

[jamesmusslewhite]

    The hearing dates have been formally scheduled, The docket shows seven hearing dates for the presentation of the defense witnesses in this ongoing murder trial. These dates are as follows: April 4,5,9,11,12,16 and 18.

[jamesmusslewhite]

    Wednesday April 4th the Surigao City criminal court is scheduled to resume. The defense lawyers for Jerome Devocian and Jeffery Parian are expected to present their first witness. The trial had been put on hold when the judge retired. A new judge had to be appointed to the court as his replacement and she required sufficient time to get acquainted with the facts of the case before the trial could resume. This was further complicated by the assassination of that retired judge.     

   As usual I will post what I will be allowed to report as the Philippines has laws in place which restricts what can be reported to the public as a trial is ongoing. This is of course to insure that the accused has the best chance to receive a fair trial.  

[HarryBeatMeAtTennis]

thank you sir

[jamesmusslewhite]

    Sorry I have not been able to post this week. Two almost back-to-back brownouts and our internet service almost nonexistent was rather untimely. The April 4 and 5 hearing dates was postponed by the judge and new dates scheduled. The April 9 hearing date will also be rescheduled as April 9th is a government holiday meaning the courthouse will be closed on Monday, When those three hearing dates will be I do not know, but I will post that information as soon as I can confirm the new dates.

   The hearings dates of April 11,12,16 and 18 should continue as previously scheduled.

[jamesmusslewhite]

   Well as I had earlier posted that a judge had been assigned to the court and that seven court dates had been assigned. The April 4 and 5 hearing dates were postponed by the judge and rescheduled and of course those hearing dates were rescheduled.  The April 9th hearing date was accidentally scheduled on a government holiday which was of course rescheduled for another day.

   Oddly enough the remaining hearing dates of April 11th,12th,16th and 18th should have continue as previously scheduled; but each date the defense lawyers for the defendants Jerome Devocion and Jeffery Parian asked that they be rescheduled.  I believe this pushes the dates up into September or November. The reasoning for each rescheduling request I really do not know. There can be a lot of reasons for these delays especially in a case that has dragged on for so long. Perhaps difficulty reaching or locating defense witnesses or their inability to get to the court on time; as some may now live great distances or must use pumpboat services which can be greatly affected by the weather and load capacity. We have had some serious weather here in Surigao over the last two weeks so this is certainly a possibility, Perhaps miscommunication among the lawyers or their having other cases scheduled on the same dates, as I am quite sure this is quite often the case with such a busy courthouse. I am not certain that Arry. Zerda is still representing in the same capacity and I know of at least one lawyer who has been newly assigned to the defense.

   I am quite sure the two defendants would like to finally have their day in court to plead their cases and claim their innocence allowing them one day closer to their freedom if found innocent of the charges. But they must still languish in Silap Prison and rely on the actions of their council and the dependability of their own witnesses. I have to admit that I am rather glad that I did not attend any of the hearing dates as it is a hassle to appear only to sit there and have the case rescheduled for a later date, as there is rarely any advance warning. I have been told not to attend any of the remaining dates out of safety concerns due to personal threats. If and when anything significant arises I will be well informed, and as usual I will post that which I am legally allowed to post as the trial is ongoing and Philippine law sets limitations as what can be written. 

Edited April 21, 2018 by jamesmusslewhite

[HarryBeatMeAtTennis]

As an old friend of Harry's all I can say is that these convoluted proceedings are not altogether alien to the way things went down when I knew him back in the 70s. lol  

[Gary D]

Just keep rescheduling until it goes away.

[jamesmusslewhite]

On 4/21/2018 at 9:24 PM, HarryBeatMeAtTennis said:

As an old friend of Harry's all I can say is that these convoluted proceedings are not altogether alien to the way things went down when I knew him back in the 70s. lol  

I am sure Harry is chuckling at the whole ordeal as I doubt he would want it any other way. 5 years of drama and 2 spots on W5 with no end coming anytime soon? Yah he is absolutely loving this..

[jamesmusslewhite]

Update:

   The trial is still on-going. The judge had retired so the case was but on hold. Unfortunately the judge was later assassinated by two thugs on a bike in front of a local restaurant. There was a new judge (a female) assigned to the court and the defense was suppose to present the firsts of their witnesses. Each of those hearing dates, for various reasons, were rescheduled for later dates. That newly appointed female I was told has left, for what reason I do not know. Nor do I know when a new replacement will be assigned to the court. Once the replacement judge has been assigned and hearing dates rescheduled, then I will update this thread.

[jamesmusslewhite]

Currently the trial is still in limbo. The Prosecution presented all their witnesses and then the Prosecution rest. The judge presiding over the case retired (later assassinated). A second judge was temporarily assigned to the courtroom and court dates were assigned to the docket, there scheduling issues with some dates (requiring cancellations). Other court dates required Defense lawyers to reschedule (due to Defense witnesses subpoena issues (defense never presented witnesses). Since, no new judge has been appointed to the courtroom.