Griffiths asks court anew to drop case against him

CEBU, Philippines - Ian Charles Griffiths, one of the accused in the kidnap-slay of a six-year-old girl, has asked the court to reconsider its decision denying his motion to dismiss the case against him.

Regional Trial Court Judge Ester Veloso has said that the dismissal of the case against Griffiths' partner, Bella Ruby Santos, does not clear Griffiths automatically from charges.

Ellah Joy Pique, the child they allegedly kidnapped on February 8, 2011, was found dead down a ravine in Barili town.

Griffiths asked Veloso to reconsider her denial in the interest of "substantial justice and fair play."

He said that in order for the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice to start reinvestigation to find the real culprit, the case filed against him should be dropped.

"…in order for the law enforcement units to initiate an honest-to-goodness investigation as to the real culprits in this case, the case against Griffiths should first be dismissed," the motion reads.

He also said that if the case against him is not dismissed, it would mean that Santos was a victim of frame-up.

Lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo, one of Griffiths' lawyers, said it is but just that the case against his client is dismissed. After all, the evidence prosecutors presented in court were both against Santos and Griffiths.

"Why would the State and/or the Honorable Court insist on prosecuting Ian Charles Griffiths when the evidence is clear that he and Bella Ruby Santos have nothing to do with the death of Ellah Joy Pique? On this score alone, the Honorable Court should dismiss the case against Griffiths," the motion reads.

The kidnapping with homicide charges against Santos were dropped owing to insufficiency of evidence.

Veloso, in her 17-page October 10, 2014 order, said prosecutors failed to identify Santos as responsible for kidnapping and killing the child.

"The court is not convinced of the reliability of the child's identification of the accused Bella Ruby Santos. By the time she had been taken as a witness, there had already been a previous mistaken identification of another woman named Esdrelon by the child's companions. The prosecution has not established why this child's identification would be better and more reliable than that of the other children who were also with her at that time and why she was not even initially considered as witness by the police," the order reads.

Veloso added that the prosecution did not even present the police who investigated the child "to shed light on the manner of the questioning of the child, for the court to determine if no suggestive remarks or questions were made" to pick out Santos from among 15 pictures of women shown to her at the municipal hall of Minglanilla. — (FREEMAN)