Court Clears Bella

[MikeB]

"By Gerome M. Dalipe and Kevin A. Lagunda

Saturday, October 11, 2014

A JUDGE yesterday cleared Bella Ruby Santos, saying she was not convinced by the testimony of a child-witness who claimed that Santos had kidnapped a six-year-old girl nearly four years ago.

The girl was Ellah Joy Pique, and this is the second time that police and prosecutors have failed to pin down the persons who kidnapped and killed her. In a press conference after Judge Ester Veloso’s order dismissing the kidnapping with homicide case was handed down, Santos said she thanked God “for answering my prayers.” “I cannot express the joy of being acquitted in this case. I was speechless for a while,” she said in a statement she read inside her lawyers’ office. Santos, who has been out on bail since April 2013, said she was also sad because “the real perpetrators” remain free.

Judge Veloso granted the defense team’s demurrer to evidence with leave of court. She also set aside the hold-departure order against Santos and ordered that the P500,000 cash bond Santos presented a year ago be returned.

Key witness

The judge pointed out in her order that the prosecution’s case relied mainly on the account of a Grade 6 pupil, who testified that she saw Ellah Joy get into a vehicle near a public school she attended in Minglanilla town. Santos, the child had told the court, sat in front, and Ellah sat on her lap. A white man was reportedly in the driver’s seat. The witness has a younger sister who was Ellah’s classmate. But two other children who were walking home in the same group as the sisters told the police that another couple had kidnapped Ellah: Karen Esdrelon and Sven-Erik Berger. The police arrested Esdrelon and Berger on Feb. 12, 2011 in Mactan aiport. Less than a week later, the National Bureau of Investigation showed proof—photos taken from a hotel’s security camera—that the pair could not have been at the crime scene on the day Ellah Joy disappeared and on the night she died. Still, the police filed the case. The prosecutor’s office eventually dropped it for lack of evidence last Feb. 28, 2011, 20 days after the last time anyone saw Ellah Joy alive.

Devastated

Part of Judge Veloso’s order said: “The prosecution has not established why this child’s identification would be better and more reliable than that of the other children who were also with her at that time.”

Renante Pique, the young victim’s father, said his family was distraught after they heard the news about the dismissal of the case. “Dako kaayo among pagkahugno uy (We are devastated),” a teary-eyed Pique, 43, told reporters yesterday. “Nakahilak gyud og maayo, dili mapugngan (I cried so hard, I couldn’t help it).” His wife Ligaya, 47, also wept, he said. Renante was among 11 witnesses the prosecution presented. He told the court that last Feb. 8, 2011, he bathed his six-year-old daughter and helped her put on her uniform, a white blouse and a pink, checkered skirt. She also wore violet slippers and her favorite earrings.

He drove her to the Calajoan Elementary School. The next time he saw her was the next day, after she had been found at the bottom of a cliff in Barili. But like nine of the other witnesses, Renante could not directly link Santos or Griffiths to Ellah Joy’s disappearance and death.

Mistaken identity

And the prosecution failed to establish why the only child-witness who claimed she saw Santos with Ellah Joy was a “better and more reliable” witness than the other children who had pointed to Esdrelon and Berger. “By the time she had been taken as a witness, there had already been a previous mistaken identity of another woman,” said Judge Veloso in her order. “In every criminal prosecution, the identity of the offense, like the crime itself, must be established by proof before reasonable doubt,” Veloso said. Santos, in her press conference, appealed to the prosecution witnesses not to do the same thing they did to her. “Your lies will haunt you forever,” she said. “I and Ian Charles Griffiths were unjustly and falsely charged with the death of (Ellah Joy) Pique. Both of us suffered in this case,” she said. She also urged the Piques to “have more strength in your quest to find justice against the real suspects.” Santos said she now keeps herself busy being a hair stylist and attending prayer meetings and spiritual seminars.

3 plans

Lead defense lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo said they were thankful to God for the dismissal of the case. “We had three plans: to win this case, never lose this case, and defeat the prosecution,” he said.

Fellow defense lawyer Julius Caesar Entise said they are communicating with the British Embassy on how Griffiths could benefit from the judge’s order. The defense filed the demurrer to evidence last July, in effect asking the court to dismiss the case even before the defense could present its evidence, because the prosecution’s evidence was not enough. The dismissal of the case came three years after an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested Santos inside a mall in Mandaluyong last Oct. 7, 2011. Griffiths is reportedly in London. In April last year, the court allowed Santos to post P500,000 as bail 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/2014/10/11/court-clears-bella-370428

 

[Methersgate]

That is wonderful news. |

 

It's within my knowledge that a member of this forum has been actively involved in the defence case, and I'd like to express my admiration for the work he has put into the defeat of this really wicked conspiracy to "frame" an innocent woman, but I won't identify him.  

[Markham]

Not so fast!

 

Renante Pique, Ellah Joy's father, isn't at all happy with the result and went to see the lawyers at the Children's Legal Bureau who represented him in this case. They're planning to file a petition of Certiorari at the Court of Appeal believing that the Judge made an important legal mistake in deciding the case. They will need approval from the State Prosecutor but this may be forthcoming since it is they and not the State, who litigated this case in court.

 

The fat lady has yet to draw breath.

[FlyAway]

What a nightmare for the accused!!!

 

So much for true justice for Ella Joy.

[Steve & Myrlita]

I guess "Double Jeopardy" doesn't apply here.

[Methersgate]

As a matter of interest, I wonder if Renante Pique can account for his movements at the time of his daughter's death?

[fred]

As a matter of interest, I wonder if Renante Pique can account for his movements at the time of his daughter's death?

 

I doubt it would matter very much now even if he could not provide an alibi, unless someone in the family knows something we do not and decides to come forward.. That would never happen IMO..

I just hope that this judgement stands.. Markham..Does this mean that Bella`s husband is assumed innocent here now?

[Markham]

What a nightmare for the accused!!!

 

So much for true justice for Ella Joy.

There was never any likelihood of there being justice for that little girl right from the moment her father reported her "missing" - which was the morning after she "disappeared".

 

I guess "Double Jeopardy" doesn't apply here.

It does but such niceties can be overcome in other ways. Remember this ruling does NOT apply to Santos' co-accused.

 

As a matter of interest, I wonder if Renante Pique can account for his movements at the time of his daughter's death?

I believe he was present at the time.

 

 

As a matter of interest, I wonder if Renante Pique can account for his movements at the time of his daughter's death?

 

I doubt it would matter very much now even if he could not provide an alibi, unless someone in the family knows something we do not and decides to come forward.. That would never happen IMO..

I just hope that this judgement stands.. Markham..Does this mean that Bella`s husband is assumed innocent here now?

 

As mentioned above, the Judge's ruling only applies to Bella Santos. Ian Griffiths still needs to be acquitted and that may take some time. It would help if the Prosecution drops the charges but they would probably need Renante Pique's agreement to do that and I somehow doubt he would agree even though there's no prospect of him (Griffiths) undergoing a trial.

[MikeB]

Bella Ruby’s acquittal ‘a perfect order’

By Gerome M. Dalipe

Saturday, October 11, 2014

REGIONAL Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso has granted the defense team’s demurrer to evidence with leave of court that led to the dismissal of the kidnapping with homicide charge against Bella Ruby Santos.Veloso ruled she was not convinced by the testimony of a child-witness who said that Santos abducted six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique outside her school on Feb. 8, 2011. After Santos’ acquittal, the prosecution’s last legal resort is to file a petition for certiorari before the Court of Appeals (CA).

Based on merits

The appeals court can only undo the trial court’s order if it discovers the judge committed “grave abuse of discretion,” pursuant to Rule 65 of the Rules of Court. “That remedy is an uphill battle,” said retired judge Meinrado Paredes. Paredes, the former Cebu City executive judge, said the granting of the demurrer to evidence is generally based on merits. The demurrer to evidence is a motion to dismiss the case filed by the defense after the prosecution rests its case, on the ground that the prosecution’s evidence is insufficient. The judge may then dismiss the case on his or her own initiative after giving either the prosecution the right to be heard, or upon demurrer to evidence filed by the accused with or without leave of court. When the demurrer to evidence is granted, Paredes said the rule on double jeopardy applies since the dismissal of the case is based on merits. Judge Veloso “correctly” issued the order, he said. “There is a factual and legal basis in dismissing the case. It’s a perfect order,” he added. Paredes had issued the search warrant, which police used in their search for evidence in Santos’s house in 2011. During the hearing of the defense’s motion to quash the warrant, Paredes, then RTC Branch 13 judge, took a swipe at policemen for their inconsistent testimonies. Paredes said he was made to believe all along that the license plate of the navy blue Mitsubishi Pajero police seized from Santos was LHJ-382, instead of LMJ-382. Police seized the vehicle on suspicion that it was the vehicle used to dump Pique’s body from a cliff in Sayaw Beach, Barili on Feb. 8, 2011. Police had admitted that the plate number of Santos’s Pajero is LMJ-382, based on its certificate of registration and a certification from the Land Transportation Office. During the trial in Veloso’s sala, the prosecution presented 12 witnesses. But it relied mainly on the testimony of a grade 6 pupil, who claimed seeing Pique’s “actual abduction.” But Veloso, in her 17-page order, said she was not convinced that the child’s testimony was reliable. The boy had also testified against Norwegian national Sven Erik Berger and fiancée Karen Esdrelon, the first couple charged with the crime with but was later cleared of charges. The prosecution failed to prove the witness was “better and more reliable,” she said. “In every criminal prosecution, the identity of the offense, like the crime itself, must be established by proof before reasonable doubt,” Veloso said in her order. The judge also ordered the lifting of the hold departure order against Santos and to return the P500,000 bond bail that Santos put up last year. The prosecution also did not present as its additional witnesses the policemen who raided Santos’s house. Interviewed over radio dySS, Provincial Prosecutor Jane Petralba said the prosecution presented all the needed evidence to bolster the case. While she felt sad for the victim’s family, the prosecutor said the court’s order should also be respected. “I was convinced there was probable cause. But the trial court has a different standard, which is proof beyond reasonable doubt,” Petralba said. She said the prosecution can file a petition for certiorari but it has to prove that the judge committed grave abuse of discretion.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2014/10/11/bella-ruby-s-acquittal-perfect-order-370551

[Markham]

Interesting ... that story has disappeared from SunStar's web site.

 

However a rather sour OpEd by columnist Frank Malilong was published yesterday and hints that it could be open season for foreigners on Cebu. Especially those who can be identified with an SUV (pick any make, model, year and colour).

 

I wanted to say that the search for justice for Ellah Joy Pique suffered a huge setback with the dismissal of the charges against suspect Bella Ruby Santos. But what if Santos is indeed innocent?

 

The court heard the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and was not convinced. We have our own personal opinions and it may have disappointed us that the decision did not meet our expectations. But the court’s action is guided by the evidence and, in this case, it found the evidence of guilt wanting.

 

The bungled investigation that led to the arrest of another set of suspects immediately after Ellah Joy’s body was found seems to have doomed the case against Santos. Two children had earlier identified Karen Esdrelon and Sven-Erik Berger as the ones who kidnapped Ellah Joy. The police charged Esdrelon and her Norwegian boyfriend with the prosecutor’s office but the case crumbled after the couple were able to establish, through video footages, that they could never have been near the scene of the crime at the time it was committed.

 

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The court cited the testimony of the two children in explaining why it could not rely on the account of another child that it was Santos and her British boyfriend who kidnapped and killed the victim. The prosecution has not been able to establish why the third child would be more reliable as a witness than the two others, the court said.

 

Santos went into hiding immediately after her and her boyfriend’s names surfaced during the police investigation of the killing. In fact, when the NBI arrested her inside a mall in Manila, Santos had changed her appearance, apparently to conceal her identity. Apparently, the court was satisfied with Santos’ explanation of her flight.

 

The police will now have to start from scratch again in their search for Pique’s killers. The only clues to their identities are that they were a Filipina woman and a white companion and they were inside a dark-colored SUV with the white male at the wheels. Unfortunately, there must have been hundreds of such couples in Cebu at the time of the Pique murder.

 

I am saddened not because Santos was acquitted but because we may never be able to arrest Ellah’s killers and punish them. When I read about Ellah’s death, it so sickened me that I decided to call my friends to help raise a bounty for the murderers. We were able to exceed our target of P200,000 within a few days. We gave the excess to Ellah’s parents. The reward money is being kept by Dr. Mila Tolentino.

 

We will probably just return the P200,000 to our donors. Or maybe, with their consent, we could use it as seed money for a foundation that we will establish and will protect the rights of children.

 

Ellah’s killers may forever go unpunished but there are other things we could do to make sure that she had not died in vain.