!! Note: I thought I only gathered one news article about this but apparently, there are quite numerous published article about this case. Instead of giving putting them in different entries, I thought about putting the rests of what I have retrieved in one entry separated by line breaks. Thanks!
SC to decide on Vizconde massacre case
MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court is now set to decide on the nearly 20-year-old Vizconde massacre case where scions of rich families were sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and homicide.The SC has accepted the fact that a DNA analysis is no longer feasible to provide more information in the Vizconde massacre case.
In a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com, SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the case should now be ripe for resolution. The decision will be out “soon,” he said.
This means that the high court will have to make do with “available evidence and arguments” in deciding the almost 2 decade-old case.
The Vizconde case has been on appeal before the Supreme Court since 2007.
In a unanimous decision in April, the Supreme Court approved principal accused Hubert Webb’s request way back in 1997, during the ongoing trial then, to subject to DNA testing the semen specimen taken from 18-year old victim Carmela Vizconde.
A match will supposedly prove or disprove rape.
The Office of the Solicitor General moved to reconsider the decision, saying available pieces of evidence are already enough.
Besides, the specimen is no longer in the custody of both the National Bureau of Investigation and the court that earlier heard the case, it said.
A Parañaque Regional Trial Court judge earlier found Webb, son of former senator Freddie Webb, and 5 other suspects guilty of the rape and murders of Carmela, mother Estrellita, and little sister Jennifer. The ruling was handed down in 2000 and was upheld by the Court of Appeals in 2005.
source
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBI insists: We don't have Vizconde specimen
MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation on Monday maintained that it no longer has the forensic evidence that was used in the 1991 Vizconde rape-murder case.
The Supreme Court earlier ordered the NBI to give proof that it has turned over to the Parañaque Regional Trial Court (RTC) a DNA specimen taken from rape victim Carmela Vizconde.
Specifically, the SC ordered NBI to explain the conflicting representations in its April 27, 2010 Compliance and Manifestation that the specimen was already turned over to the Parañaque RTC branch 274 as early as 1996, when in its 1997 letter, it categorically stated that "the specimen gathered is still existing and in the custody of the Bureau" as of April 23, 1997.
In response, the NBI resubmitted an affidavit from former NBI medico-legal division chief Prospero Cabanayan saying that the specimen was turned over to the Parañaque RTC. The affidavit stated the NBI had no turnover receipt of the specimen except for a small notation on an envelope.
The Parañaque clerk of court earlier denied receiving the forensic specimen from NBI.
A Parañaque court earlier convicted Hubert Webb and 5 others for the massacre of Carmela Vizconde, her mother Estelita and younger sister Jennifer in 1991. The conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in December 2005.
Last April, the Supreme Court granted Webb's request to submit for DNA analysis the specimen taken from the murder victim.
source
The Supreme Court earlier ordered the NBI to give proof that it has turned over to the Parañaque Regional Trial Court (RTC) a DNA specimen taken from rape victim Carmela Vizconde.
Specifically, the SC ordered NBI to explain the conflicting representations in its April 27, 2010 Compliance and Manifestation that the specimen was already turned over to the Parañaque RTC branch 274 as early as 1996, when in its 1997 letter, it categorically stated that "the specimen gathered is still existing and in the custody of the Bureau" as of April 23, 1997.
In response, the NBI resubmitted an affidavit from former NBI medico-legal division chief Prospero Cabanayan saying that the specimen was turned over to the Parañaque RTC. The affidavit stated the NBI had no turnover receipt of the specimen except for a small notation on an envelope.
The Parañaque clerk of court earlier denied receiving the forensic specimen from NBI.
A Parañaque court earlier convicted Hubert Webb and 5 others for the massacre of Carmela Vizconde, her mother Estelita and younger sister Jennifer in 1991. The conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in December 2005.
Last April, the Supreme Court granted Webb's request to submit for DNA analysis the specimen taken from the murder victim.
source
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBI: Oops, sorry! We don't have Vizconde evidence
MANILA, Philippines – A doctor working for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) apologized to the Supreme Court for mistakenly assuming that the specimen taken from the body of Carmela Vizconde was still in the NBI’s custody.
The apology was made after the Supreme Court ordered the NBI to subject the specimen to a DNA analysis. The test can determine whether the DNA from the specimen matches the DNA of convicted rapist and murderer Hubert Webb.
Dr. Renato Bautista, an NBI medico-legal doctor, apologized to the High Court for mistakenly assuming that the DNA was still in NBI hands.
He had sent a letter to Webb’s lawyers in 1997, saying the slides containing the specimen were still under the NBI’s custody.
His letter was later used in a recent Supreme Court decision instructing the NBI to subject the specimen to a DNA test.
Bautista explained that he sent the letter when Webb’s lawyers asked him if the NBI still had the specimen.
NBI Deputy Director for Technical Services Reynaldo Esmeralda earlier said the NBI had submitted the specimen as part of its evidence against Webb, one of those accused in the Vizconde Massacre, during his trial in 1996 before Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274.
A mistaken assumption
Bautista said he committed an honest mistake. He explained that he was unaware the actual specimen had already been submitted as evidence in court.
Since the normal practice was to submit a copy of the result of the NBI’s lab test on a specimen as part of the evidence, he mistakenly assumed that the specimen was still with the NBI, and this was waht he told Webb’s lawyer.
“It was an honest mistake on my part,” Bautista said. “That’s why I would to take this opportunity to apologize to the honorable justices of the Supreme Court for my being presumptuous at that time, and I’m sorry to the justices of the Supreme Court.
Last Monday, the former clerk of court of RTC Branch 274 at the time of the Vizconde Massacre trial said he has no recollection that the specimen was under the custody of the court.
Longing for closure
Meanwhile, Lauro Vizconde declared it doesn't matter where the specimen is.
He believes that wherever the specimen is now, it is most likely contaminated and no longer useful for a DNA analysis.
He said the issue of conducting a DNA analysis on the specimen should not be used to delay the Supreme Court in issuing its final decision on the Vizconde Massacre case.
In an emotional tone, Vizconde said he wished to see final justice meted against his family’s killers before he dies. He said he is longing for closure because he has only won partial justice in the 2 decades since his family was murdered in their home in Parañaque.
Source
The apology was made after the Supreme Court ordered the NBI to subject the specimen to a DNA analysis. The test can determine whether the DNA from the specimen matches the DNA of convicted rapist and murderer Hubert Webb.
Dr. Renato Bautista, an NBI medico-legal doctor, apologized to the High Court for mistakenly assuming that the DNA was still in NBI hands.
He had sent a letter to Webb’s lawyers in 1997, saying the slides containing the specimen were still under the NBI’s custody.
His letter was later used in a recent Supreme Court decision instructing the NBI to subject the specimen to a DNA test.
Bautista explained that he sent the letter when Webb’s lawyers asked him if the NBI still had the specimen.
NBI Deputy Director for Technical Services Reynaldo Esmeralda earlier said the NBI had submitted the specimen as part of its evidence against Webb, one of those accused in the Vizconde Massacre, during his trial in 1996 before Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274.
A mistaken assumption
Bautista said he committed an honest mistake. He explained that he was unaware the actual specimen had already been submitted as evidence in court.
Since the normal practice was to submit a copy of the result of the NBI’s lab test on a specimen as part of the evidence, he mistakenly assumed that the specimen was still with the NBI, and this was waht he told Webb’s lawyer.
“It was an honest mistake on my part,” Bautista said. “That’s why I would to take this opportunity to apologize to the honorable justices of the Supreme Court for my being presumptuous at that time, and I’m sorry to the justices of the Supreme Court.
Last Monday, the former clerk of court of RTC Branch 274 at the time of the Vizconde Massacre trial said he has no recollection that the specimen was under the custody of the court.
Longing for closure
Meanwhile, Lauro Vizconde declared it doesn't matter where the specimen is.
He believes that wherever the specimen is now, it is most likely contaminated and no longer useful for a DNA analysis.
He said the issue of conducting a DNA analysis on the specimen should not be used to delay the Supreme Court in issuing its final decision on the Vizconde Massacre case.
In an emotional tone, Vizconde said he wished to see final justice meted against his family’s killers before he dies. He said he is longing for closure because he has only won partial justice in the 2 decades since his family was murdered in their home in Parañaque.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment