Ellah Joy Kidnap-Slay: Defense wants DNA result offered in court

CEBU, Philippines  - The defense counsel in the kidnapping with homicide case against Bella Ruby Santos and her British boyfriend Ian Charles Griffiths is planning to ask the court to subpoena the members of the Task Force Ellah Joy to produce the result of the deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA examination on the bloodstains taken from the seat cover of the vehicle believed to have been used in the commission of the crime.

Lawyer Rameses Villa-gonzalo believes that the examination yielded negative result preventing the task force investigating the case from submitting the test result to the court.

Villagonzalo said the DNA result will weaken the case against his clients.

“Our defense gets more fortified, the people’s case becomes weaker and weaker,” he told The FREEMAN.

According to Villagonzalo, they tried to request a copy of the result from Manila but they were told the DNA examination has long been terminated. Villagonzalo said they were told that the result is already in the custody of the PNP Crime Laboratory in Central Visayas.

“Now we are asking the task force to publish the result of the DNA whether it was negative or positive,” Villagonzalo said.

Villagonzalo’s collaborating counsel Noel Ubod said they will ask the court to subpoena the task force to produce the result of the DNA test.

But, Criminal Investigation and Detective Group-7 lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna is confident that whatever the result will be, will not affect their case.

“The result of the DNA is not an indicative that the accused were guilty or not because this is subject for full blown trial in court,” dela Cerna said.

 “If the result is negative they have to explain why they obtained negative result and vice versa,” dela Cerna added.

The members of the Task Force Ellah Joy earlier obtained samples of alleged bloodstains found on the seat cover of Santos’ Mitsubishi Pajero. The police believe that the vehicle was used in the kidnapping and eventual murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique last February.

The samples were submitted for DNA examination in Camp Crame. The case for kidnapping with homicide has already been filed against Santos and Griffiths before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City. In fact, there was already a warrant of arrest issued by the court against them. (THE FREEMAN )