Defensor concedes

Anthony John Apura, the co-accused of Alpha Kappa Rho member Sherwin Que in the murder of university student Mark James Enriquez, has asked the court to maintain his P100,000 bail pending his motion for reconsideration on the court’s decision.

Apura filed a motion for reconsideration shortly after the court sentenced him to 14 years in jail as accomplice to the crime. The court has sentenced Que to 40 years imprisonment as principal for shooting Enriquez to death in 2003.

Regional Trial Court Judge Bienvenido Saniel also ordered Que and Apura to jointly pay Enriquez’s heirs P50,000 in indemnity and another P50,000 as moral damages and for other costs.

In his motion, Apura said the bail is a matter of judicial discretion considering that the circumstances that would make the court cancel his bail does not apply to him.

Apura said he is neither a recidivist, quasi-recidivist or habitual delinquent or has committed the crime aggravated by the circumstance of reiteration.

Apura also said he has not previously escaped from legal confinement or has violated bail without valid justification. In fact, he said he had voluntarily surrendered to authorities and has neither escaped nor committed any infraction against the law when he was granted bail. He also did not commit any offense while under probation or parole or conditional appeal.

He further contended that he would not flee because he is not a foreigner or a person without any address and that probability of flight is very slim considering that he is a student and that there has been no record that he evaded authorities even after he was tagged as suspect.

“There is no iota of evidence that there is an undue risk that accused Apura may commit another crime during the pendency of the appeal,” his motion reads.

In a 20-page decision handed down last Monday, Saniel said the testimonies of the prosecution’s witness were “clear and definite” to hold Que liable as principal in the crime of murder.

Enriquez had been mistaken as member of rival fraternity Tau Gamma when Que shot him on July 19, 2003 during a rumble at Unibeersities Restobar between members of the two fraternities.

Que, an Akhro member for 14 years, last year admitted to the shooting when he took the witness stand but claimed it was purely an accident and that he was just defending himself when a rumble ensued. He had apologized in open court.

The court gave weight to testimonies of witnesses that Que did not shoot in self-defense or hit Enriquez by mistake.

 “Clearly, when Que shot Enriquez there was no risk to the former arising from whatever defense the latter might make. There was no way Enriquez could have defended himself. There was treachery,” the court said.

Other Akrho members impleaded in the case are Jun-jun Rivera, Alvin Taggart Alviz and an unidentified companion. Only Que and Apura were arrested.  In the same decision, Saniel has ordered for warrants of arrest to be issued against those at large and for a separate trial against them once they are arrested.

Que maintained that he only met Apura when they were both jailed for the same case. Apura is currently out on bail. — Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM