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Court stands by dismissal of drug case vs Kerwin Espinosa

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Kerwin Espinosa appears at the Manila Regional Trial Court for a scheduled hearing, April 6, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/06/03/20180406-kerwin-espinosa-hearing-5-jc.jpg"/><figcaption>Kerwin Espinosa appears at the Manila Regional Trial Court for a scheduled hearing, April 6, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File </figcaption></figure></div><h3><br/>Dismissal based on retraction of witness Marcelo Adorco, who also took back claim vs De Lima</h3><p><br/>MANILA — A Makati court stood by its earlier ruling junking the drug charge against self-confessed narcotics trafficker Kerwin Espinosa and several companions.</p><p>In an order dated May 30, 2022, Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 64 Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the prosecution over her Dec. 17, 2021 order that granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Espinosa.</p><p>A demurrer to evidence is essentially a motion to dismiss due to insufficiency of prosecution evidence.</p><p>The prosecution had relied on the testimony of Marcelo Adorco, himself one of the accused. Prosecutors presented him as Espinosa’s bodyguard and driver to prove his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.</p><p>But on Aug. 11, 2020, Adorco executed a counter-affidavit recanting all the testimonies he gave in court, claiming he was only forced to testify against his co-accused. </p><p>The claims he recanted include being Espinosa’s driver and bodyguard, and knowledge of his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.</p><p>In its December 2021 order, the Makati court said that &quot;without Adorco&#x27;s testimonies, the prosecution&#x27;s case against the Espinosa Group necessarily crumbles.&quot;</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A Makati court affirms its dismissal of the drug charges against self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, denying the DOJ&#x27;s motion for reconsideration.<br/><br/>The court had earlier granted Espinosa&#x27;s demurrer to evidence due to insufficiency of prosecution evidence. <a href="https://t.co/6DNCIPxoWk">pic.twitter.com/6DNCIPxoWk</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1532594024799907840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>“While as a rule, recantations are viewed with suspicion and reservation. There exists special circumstances, such as the glaring violations of Adorco’s constitutional rights, which raises doubts as to the veracity of his initial testimonies,” it said.</p><p>But even without the retraction, the court had already declared inadmissible Adorco’s sworn statements because they were done without the presence of his lawyer.</p><p>Adorco was also supposedly made to believe the affidavits would only be used against Espinosa, not against him.</p><p>“For one, Adorco, unwittingly, was made to be a witness against himself. For another, the rule is that even if the confession contains a grain of truth, if it was made without the assistance of counsel, it becomes inadmissible in evidence, regardless of the absence of coercion or even if it had been voluntarily given,” the court said.</p><p>Even assuming Adorco’s testimonies were admissible, they were also not credible, according to the court.</p><p>“Regrettably, the prosecution miserably failed to prove the alleged conspiracy between the Espinosa Group considering that Adorco’s testimony which is the very foundation of the prosecution’s case against them is neither clear, categorical, consistent nor credible,” the court said in its December ruling.</p><p>“Worse, Adorco, on cross-examination, admitted that his testimonies are plagued with errors and inconsistencies because of the police officers who prepared said statements. Worst, in a Kontra Salaysay dated August 11, 2020, Adorco recanted his testimonies,” it added.</p><p>In affirming the dismissal, the court said in Monday’s order that the prosecution’s arguments were merely rehashed and it failed to discharge its burden of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt.</p><p>“[I]t bears stressing that in all criminal prosecutions, the settled rule is that the prosecution must rely on the strength of its own evidence and not on the weakness of the defense. The Prosecution bears the burden to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, not on the accused to prove his innocence,” the court said.</p><div><strong>SIGNIFICANCE</strong></div><p>The Makati court’s latest ruling means Espinosa can no longer be prosecuted based on the same case because he had already been arraigned and double jeopardy has set in, according to his lawyer Raymund Palad.</p><p>“Absent grave abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court, or denial of due process, the grant of demurrer to evidence is a judgment of acquittal which is final and executory,” he told ABS-CBN News in a text message.</p><p>Palad said at least 5 other cases against Espinosa would most likely be affected by Adorco’s retraction since all of these were based on Espinosa’s and Adorco’s prior affidavits, which have all been retracted.</p><div><strong>IMPACT ON DE LIMA</strong></div><p>Adorco&#x27;s August 2020 retraction was recently cited by detained Sen. Leila de Lima to prove her innocence. </p><p>In that retraction, Adorco denied knowing De Lima or having any knowledge about her supposed meeting in Baguio with Espinosa.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/01/22/witness-takes-back-claims-vs-kerwin-de-lima">Witness takes back claims vs Kerwin Espinosa, Sen. De Lima</a></li></ul><p>Espinosa himself retracted all his allegations against De Lima in April this year, in a counter-affidavit submitted before the DOJ.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/28/22/kerwin-espinosa-recants-allegations-vs-de-lima-counsel">&#x27;Not true&#x27;: Kerwin Espinosa recants all allegations vs De Lima, says lawyer</a></li></ul><p>The justice department on Friday said it was <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/03/22/doj-reviewing-de-lima-cases-as-more-witnesses-recant">reviewing </a>the narcotics charges against De Lima. </p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2062479" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A Makati court stood by its earlier ruling junking the drug charge against self-confessed narcotics trafficker Kerwin Espinosa and several companions.

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Court stands by dismissal of drug case vs Kerwin Espinosa

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 03, 2022 03:14 PM PHT

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Kerwin Espinosa

Leila de Lima

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