Sandiganbayan junks Garcia’s petition for dismissal of charges

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has junked with finality the petition of former Armed Forces comptroller Gen. Carlos Garcia for the dismissal, on the basis of double jeopardy, of a perjury case against him.

Aside from perjury charges, Garcia is also facing a plunder case and two ill-gotten wealth cases before the Sandiganbayan.

In a resolution dated Jan. 10, the anti-graft court said Garcia failed in his motion for reconsideration to convince the court to reverse its ruling dated Oct. 31, 2006.

"A reading of the Motion shows distinctly that the accused failed to establish any novel and valid ground for the reversal of this Court’s earlier Resolution. The court finds no cogent reason to engage in a repetitive discussion, as it becomes an exercise in futility," the Sandiganbayan decision said.

Garcia argued that the perjury case against him was merely an extension of a similar charge that had been dismissed by the anti-graft court’s Third Division.

Both perjury cases concerned Garcia’s alleged misrepresentation in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth particularly of his vehicles registered in the name of his wife, Clarita, which he failed to declare in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth.    

Garcia argued that the facts of the two cases constitute "one continuing crime."

But the court said the two cases were "separate and distinct" from each other as Garcia committed the same offense twice.

"The issue raised in the present motion is nothing but a mere rehash of that advanced by the accused in his Motion to Quash," the court pointed out. – Mike Frialde