The "ella Joy Pique Case" - An Update

[Americano]

Why can't the court serve subpenas to everyone who should be present for each court hearing and if that person is not present then issue a warrant of arrest for that person?  This one simple procedure would eliminate a lot of delays and justice never being served.

[Old55]

I think there is a reason this case will just slowly go away. More fun

[MikeB]

Motion to dismiss filed yesterday.

"BELLA Ruby Santos and Ian Charles Griffiths, who are charged with homicide for the murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique three years ago, are asking the court to dismiss the criminal case against them. They said the prosecution failed to present witnesses and evidence to prove their guilt. Their lawyers led by Rameses Victorius Villagonzalo filed the demurrer to evidence before the Regional Trial Court Branch 6 yesterday. “This entire case is based on a lie, a frame-up,” the pleading read. It further states the result of the case is “disaster” because the prosecution presented “a drug and firearm ex-convict, consistent-lying lovers/police assets, a forgetful and over-acting tricycle driver, incompetent police investigators, and poorly-coached sweet little children.” A demurrer to evidence is a motion to dismiss the case filed by the defense after the prosecution rests its case on the ground of insufficient evidence. The 55 DNA samples taken from Santos’s house in Naga City and from her car yielded negative results of Pique’s DNA. “It is conclusive that the deceased had never been at the house and (Mitsubishi) Pajero of Santos at any given time,” the pleading read.

No previous record

Santos said she is leaving everything to God, including the outcome of their case. The defense said the prosecution failed to establish motive and to show events during the “mysterious period,” which was between the time of the kidnapping and the discovery of the girl’s body. It said both accused also have no record with the police, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and US Homeland Security that they have been involved in the cybersex business.

And since there were three child witnesses who also pointed to Sven Erik Berger and Karen Esdrelon as the perpetrators, the defense said the “evidence of guilt” against Santos and Griffiths is “not strong.”

Berger and Esdrelon were also charged with kidnapping with homicide before the provincial prosecutor’s office, but the complaint was dismissed for lack of evidence. Villagonzalo said they also want the hold-departure order against Santos and the fugitive status against Griffiths at the Interpol be lifted.The prosecution is composed of lawyer Inocencio de la Cerna, Jr. of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7, Children’s Legal Bureau and a panel of public prosecutors.

Defense’s right

“The entry of this kind of people hoping to convict innocent people like Bella Ruby Santos and Ian Charles Griffiths makes the advocacy of securing justice for the deceased’s family no less evil than the felony itself in this case,” the pleading read. De la Cerna said the defense has the right to ask the court to dismiss the kidnapping with homicide case filed against their clients. But he said their evidence is strong.

Pique was abducted outside her school in Minglanilla on Feb. 8, 2011. She was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Barili the following day.

Santos was arrested by the NBI 7 personnel inside a mall in Manila on Oct. 7, 2011, while Griffiths is in London, England. In April last year, the court allowed Santos to post bail for P500,000 because the prosecution failed to present any evidence to show “what happened to the child (Ellah Joy) after she boarded the vehicle, where she was brought, or who was with her all that time."

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2014/05/21/dismiss-case-lack-evidence-couple-court-344104

[Mike S]

:thumbs-up-smile: :AddEmoticons04230: :AddEmoticons04230: :AddEmoticons04230: :AddEmoticons04230: :AddEmoticons04230:

[Markham]

Interesting. On Monday of this week, at a hearing for this case during which Prosecutor Abarco rested the Prosecution case, the Defence sought leave of the Court to file its Demurrer to Evidence within 14 days. In fact, the Defence Team - and myself - had been working on this document for the past month and lead counsel Attorney Villagonzalo was able to serve copies of the Demurrer with the Provincial Prosecutor and the Court the following day.

 

It is not yet a public document so I'm not sure how the SunStar was able to quote from it but I do have my suspicions. I will post a full copy of the Demurrer as soon as we have the Court's permission to publicise it.

 

Bearing in mind that I know exactly what's written in the Demurrer, it really does seem to me that the SunStar is hoping against hope that the Prosecution is able to pull something out of the hat and gain convictions against the couple. This would be a natural fit as its columnists have written some very biased opinion pieces both prior and during the Bail Hearing. Why do I say this? Well the paper has cherry-picked and published a few of the less powerful points from the document. Or it may be preparing its readers for the inevitable but seeks to hide the really damming portions of the Defence's document lest that undermines the populace's confidence in law enforcement and the competence of prosecuting lawyers.

 

The paper quotes Attorney Dela Cerna as continuing to claim that the Prosecution's "evidence is strong". Attorney Dela Cerna has not, to my knowledge, attended many of the hearings this year which you may consider a tad strange as he is supposed to be the lead counsel! And Pique's other lawyers - he has four in all - have also been conspicuous by their absence. And if their evidence is as strong as Dela Cerna says, how is it, then, that the Prosecution failed to file its motion for acceptance of its exhibits into evidence?

 

The Provincial Prosecutor has a couple of weeks to file his answer and objections to the Demurrer.

Edited May 22, 2014 by Markham

[Jake]

Hello Markham,

 

We really appreciate your patience and courage to stand up on your inner feelings about honor and integrity.

I didn't realize a major news media can be so biased.  I suspect govt and police officials wanted to boost their

rating in crime fighting?  That whole PNP investigation was quickly done (for PR purposes) but had some holes

in which your side is filing this motion of Demurrer.  I took the liberty of educating myself......

 

A demurrer is a pleading in a lawsuit that objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an opposing party. The word demur means "to object";

a demurrer is the document that makes the objection. Lawyers informally define a demurrer as a defendant saying, "So what?" to the pleading.

 

Demurrer to evidence is a method of taking a case from the jury. It refers to a motion to dismiss filed by the defendant after the plaintiff had

rested his/her case, on the ground of insufficiency of evidence.

 

Since the prosecution rests its case, it's your turn at bat.  I have no doubt Markham, that you will hit a grand slam!

 

Respectfully -- Jake

[Mike S]

Does anyone  besides me find it extremely strange that when officials or the media find out they were wrong after making a big deal over something that turned out to be totally bogus they just sort of slither away and act like they were never involved to begin with ....... oh wait ..... that's called loosing face ..... you know if I was so concerned with loosing face I would be damn sure I didn't jump to conclusions or try to twist a story or event to make myself look bigger than I am ..... but I guess false pride and loosing face go hand in hand .... JMHO

:cheersty:

[Markham]

Hello Markham,

 

We really appreciate your patience and courage to stand up on your inner feelings about honor and integrity.

I didn't realize a major news media can be so biased.  I suspect govt and police officials wanted to boost their

rating in crime fighting?  That whole PNP investigation was quickly done (for PR purposes) but had some holes

in which your side is filing this motion of Demurrer.  I took the liberty of educating myself......

 

A demurrer is a pleading in a lawsuit that objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an opposing party. The word demur means "to object";

a demurrer is the document that makes the objection. Lawyers informally define a demurrer as a defendant saying, "So what?" to the pleading.

 

Demurrer to evidence is a method of taking a case from the jury. It refers to a motion to dismiss filed by the defendant after the plaintiff had

rested his/her case, on the ground of insufficiency of evidence.

 

Since the prosecution rests its case, it's your turn at bat.  I have no doubt Markham, that you will hit a grand slam!

 

Respectfully -- Jake

Thank you, Jake, but I should make one thing absolutely clear: I am not a lawyer but merely act as a consultant to the defendants. In that role, I have read almost all the legal documents and Court transcripts and I was asked to assist with the Demurrer whose draft I received some 3 weeks ago.

 

Two of the three English-language newspapers published in Cebu have acted as little more than voice-pipes for the "establishment", being the SunStar and Cebu Daily News; The Freeman (part of the Philippine Star Group) has been much more even-handed and accurate in its reporting of the case. Two of the SunStar's columnists - both being lawyers - are currently sitting on a pot of money that they raised from readers as reward monies when Griffiths and Santos were charged and to be paid-out to witnesses following their successful conviction. That pot is worth over half a million Pesos and represents about one half of the total reward monies available. Quite what will happen to that "war chest" when the accused are found not guilty - as I'm sure they will be - is anyone's guess.

 

The Defence's filing is a Demurrer to Evidence. During the case, the Prosecution used a number of exhibits whilst examining its witnesses. Just before it rested its case, it should have filed a motion to have those exhibits officially entered into the Court Record and accepted as part of its evidence. Without that motion being granted, the Judge can not take those exhibits into consideration when determining the case. But the Prosecution didn't do that - it failed to file it's exhibits motion - so the case can only be determined on the basis of oral testimony delivered by witnesses during the trial. Unfortunately for the Prosecution, none of that stood the test of cross-examination and all the witnesses' credibility was shot to hell.

 

There were a number of instances of Prosecutorial Misconduct during the trial and the Demurrer lists each and every one. One of the private prosecuting lawyers will shortly be facing possible disbarment proceedings, in part for his actions and behaviour during the trial - he's also suspected of some involvement in the slaying of Attorney Archival, on Cebu Island, by members of the PNP's HPG-7 (Highway Patrol) earlier this year.

 

Unusually, although they attended all the hearings, the State's Prosecutors did not present and examine any of the witnesses. I think it's possible that they realised that the case against the accused was really rather weak and were therefore more than happy to learn that Pique wanted a private prosecutor to take the lead. However the private prosecutors have left the "field of battle" leaving the State to clean up the mess and engage in a bit of damage limitation.

[Thomas]

Does anyone besides me find it extremely strange that when officials or the media find out they were wrong after making a big deal over something that turned out to be totally bogus they just sort of slither away and act like they were never involved to begin with ....

Well. Not much difference from "kano" media. When they are FORCED to post a dementi of something they have claimed in big headlines several days, they post a very small one, hidden somewhere inside the newspaper...  :bash:

But the German media seem to became more careful since they had to pay big punishment fees after they wrote false information about the Swedish Queen.

So it would be nice with more punnishment fees for writing false accusations...