Killing of Jojo De La Victoria: Suspect's lawyer ask for probe first

The lawyers of policeman Marcial Ocampo, who is accused as the gunman in the killing of Bantay Dagat project director Elpidio 'Jojo' de la Victoria asked the court yesterday to quash the information of the case and to remand the case to the Talisay City Prosecutors' Office for a preliminary investigation.

Lawyers Hector Fernandez and Vicente Fernandez II demanded for a preliminary investigation of the case to be conducted by the Talisay City Prosecutors' office to determine probable cause of holding the accused for trial before the court.

In their five-page motion, the defense lawyers cited a Supreme Court jurisprudence that provides, "the right to preliminary investigation is recognized even after the case has already been filed" in court.

Because the case was directly filed before the court without conducting the required preliminary investigation, despite of the accused insistence, Ocampo's lawyers are now demanding for the quashing of the information of the case.

The murder case against Ocampo has already been filed before the Regional Trial Court and it was raffled and was assigned to RTC branch 5 presided by Judge Ireneo Lee Gako Jr., the judge who sentenced to death the killer of Freeman photojournalist Allan Dizon.

The defense lawyers claimed that their client was illegally arrested and was accused as the one who killed de la Victoria by shooting him outside his house in Talisay City on April 12 on the basis of the cartographic sketch.

They also described the arrest of Ocampo on April 17, or five days after de la Victoria was shot by a lone gunman, as "illegal" since his case does not fall in the enumerated instances where the arrest of a person can be effected without a warrant.

Section 5, Rule 113 of the Rules of Criminal Procedures allows a peace officer or even a civilian to arrest a person, without a warrant, under the following circumstances:

(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;

(b) When an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it; and

(c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or is temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another.

Ocampo's lawyers said their client is ready to present witnesses and documentary evidence to prove that he was not at the scene of the crime during the incident.

According to them the granting of the preliminary investigation also gives justice to the family of de la Victoria, a man whom they described as "well loved and respected by the community he served."

About one hour after the court received the twin motions of the defense lawyers, Gako quickly issued an order for Talisay City prosecutor Marshall Rubia to comment about the move to quash the information and to remand the case to his office for the preliminary investigation.

Meanwhile, Gako has already scheduled the arraignment of the case on April 28 although the defense lawyers still have the right to ask the court to reset the conduct of the proceedings until after the motion would be resolved.

Ocampo, who was assigned with the Minglanilla police station before his arrest, is now detained at the Talisay City Jail but he has already asked the court to transfer him to the stockade of the National Bureau of Investigation.- Rene U. Borromeo