CA upholds acquittal of 2 ‘Alabang Boys’

The Court of Appeals has dismissed a petition contesting a Muntinlupa court's aquittal of two of the three "Alabang Boys" who were charged in a high-profile drug case in 2008.

In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Leoncia Real-Dimagiba, the CA's Special Fourth Division denied a petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) contesting the acquittal of Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph.

The CA said the petitioner failed to show proof that the Muntinlupa court committed grave abuse of discretion when it acquitted Brodett and Joseph in 2011.

"While there may be instances when a reconsideration after an acquittal may be possible, this is upon very exceptional and narrow grounds as when the Court gravely abused its discretion resulting in loss of jurisdiction, or when a mistrial has occurred in which case the State may assail the decision by certiorari," the CA division said in its 23-page ruling.

In Brodett and Joseph's case, however, the CA said the trial court's decision should not be overturned because no mistrial happened.

The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court branch 204 under Judge Juanita T. Guerrero acquitted Brodett and Joseph on August 26, 2011. The two were charged for supposedly possessing and peddling high-end illegal drugs.

A third accused, Joseph Tecson, was also later acquitted by a Quezon City court.

Guerrero issued the acquittal after finding that the "link in the custody of the drug evidence was broken."

She noted that Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency forensic chemist Rona Mae Aguillon, in her testimony, claimed she examined the seized drugs for 16 hours, starting at 12:15 p.m. of Sept. 20, 2008 and ended at around 4 a.m. the following day.

However, a photograph published in the Philippine Star on September 21 of the same year showed then-PDEA director Dionisio Santiago presenting the seized drugs to the media the day before.

The judge said Aguillon's statement and the photgraph left her in a "quandary" as to who between Aguillon and Santiago was really in possession of the drugs on September 20.

In its ruling, the CA said: "What may vitiate a decision are jurisdictional errors arising from the Court's commission of grave abuse of discretion or denial of due process."

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Amelita Tolentino and Danton Bueser. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News