Carpenter acquitted of
homicide try raps

A carpenter was acquitted of robbery and frustrated homicide charges on the ground of reasonable doubt by Kabankalan City Regional Trial Court Branch 61 Judge Henry Arles.

Jerry Tadea, 34, was cleared of the charges by Arles who noted that his identification by the victim and his implication in the case was just an afterthought, and ordered his immediate release. The case stemmed from a robbery at the house of Rodolfo Gargaritano, 76, in 2005 where the victim was repeatedly hit with a piece of wood by a suspect who was later identified by Gargaritano as Tadea.

Gargaritano told the court that he woke up at around 10 p.m. on March 5, 2005 when he noticed that all the lights in their house had been turned off.

He added that Tadea suddenly hit him on his head and arm with a piece of wood when he looked around his house to check what was wrong with the lights, court records showed.

Gargaritano also said that he positively identified Tadea during their scuffle after the accused had injured him.

Tadea however, said that he was in his mother's house two kilometers away from Gargaritano's residence during the incident, court records showed.

Arles said that Gargaritano's testimony that he hid under a table after struggling with Tadea contradicts his claim that the accused was the one who robbed and hit him.

He added that Gargaritano should have told his family members, who were in the same house when he was attacked, who the suspect was and not days after the incident.

Arles cited Supreme Court rulings that the delay or failure to identify the accused at the earliest opportunity is an afterthought designed to implicate the accused, and cannot be the basis of conviction. He also noted that Tadea had not been accused with robbery before the incident and that he had a farm and was earning enough for him to have robbed Gargaritano.*PP

back to top