Court convicts man but clears another in 2 illegal drug cases

Two men, indicted of illegal drug cases in separate courts, have met contrasting fate: One was found guilty and meted a life term while the other escaped conviction and his case dismissed.

At the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Silvestre Maamo, the National Bureau of Investigation won the case it filed against Romeo Hegremosa, the drug pusher who was incidentally the cause of the botched drug operation of the agency several years ago.

The court found Hegremosa guilty of two charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment for selling illegal drugs, another 14 years in prison for possession of illegal drugs, and to pay a fine of P800,000 for both charges.

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, acting on a tip-off, arrested Hegremosa during a buy bust on Juan Luna Avenue in March 2003.

A policeman posed as a buyer of a small plastic pack of shabu from Hegremosa who, after giving the item to the policeman, was immediately arrested.

Hegremosa, however, denied there was a buy bust operation, claiming that the policemen just arrived and pointed their guns at him as soon as he parked his car near his repair shop. He alleged that he was ordered to get out of his car and was immediately handcuffed.

Hegremosa told the court that the policemen were looking for his brother, Roberto alias Obet, and they wanted some information on the latter’s whereabouts. When he failed to give them the information, Hegremosa said he was indicted for selling and possession of illegal drugs.

Judge Maamo dismissed Hegremosa’s story. He ruled that the defense of denial could not prevail over the positive identification by prosecution witnesses that Hegremosa sold illegal drugs to the policeman in a drug bust.

In the sala of RTC Judge Gabriel Ingles, on the other hand, the cases against Arnie Ursal for allegedly selling shabu and maintaining a drug den were dismissed.

The cause of the dismissal that the judge cited in his decision were the questionable credibility and the uncorroborated testimony of the prosecution witness.

Judge Ingles said the admission of PO2 Leo Batigalao that he was transferred to Siquijor due to extortion charges weakened his credibility as a witness. Batigalao was the poseur buyer in the buy-bust done against Ursal.

Judge Ingles added that Batigalao’s testimony, that the alleged drug deal was consummated, was also not corroborated by any member of the supposed buy-bust team.

Even PO3 Jeffrey Larrobis, the supposed backup man of Batigalao, admitted during the cross-examination that he also did not witness the transaction between Ursal and Batigalao, and merely relied on Batigalao to give the signal.

The court said the absence of corroborative testimony and Batigalao’s lack of credibility "has not presented proof beyond reasonable doubt" that Ursal did sell to the policeman the illegal drugs. — Fred P. Languido and Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE