CA won’t reopen case of ex-fiscal, wife

CEBU, Philippines – For lack of merit, the Supreme Court second division denied the petition of a former assistant provincial prosecutor in Cebu and his wife to reopen the case they were convicted for.

“We deny the petition to reopen the case filed by the petitioners for lack of merit,” reads the October 20, 2014 SC resolution signed by Ma. Lourdes Perfecto, the division clerk of court.

Former assistant provincial prosecutor Arturo Cabaron and his wife Brigida were found guilty of violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees when they were caught offering to fix a case for a fee.

In their petition to reopen the case, the couple claimed that two new witnesses have surfaced and executed “very vital sworn statements” that could belie all allegations against them. They asked that the witnesses be presented in court.

The appellate court said, how-ever, that “the arguments raised by the petitioners in their petition to reopen the case were substantially reiterations of the arguments they raised in their motion to lift entry of final judgment.”

The court said reopening a criminal case is “not the proper recourse” especially when there is already a final judgment of conviction.

The couple was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for demanding P50,000 from the family of a rape suspect in 1996. They were sentenced to two years and one day in prison and ordered to pay P30,000 in moral damages. — (FREEMAN)