CA affirms granting of bail for Deniece Cornejo, 2 others in serious illegal detention case

The Court of Appeals (CA) has backed the decision of a Taguig City court allowing model-stylist Deniece Cornejo and two others to post bail in connection with the mauling of television host-comedian Vhong Navarro in January 2014.

In its decision, the CA Ninth Division said the Department of Justice and Navarro failed to prove that Judge Esperanza Paz Cortes of the Taguig RTC Branch 271 committed grave abuse of discretion in granting the bail petition of Cornejo, businessman Cedric Lee, and martial artist Simeon "Zimmer" Raz for the serious illegal detention case.

"[W]hile Navarro had indeed been detained, there is a possibility that said detention might be legal in view of citizen’s arrest and not for the purpose of kidnapping. Clearly, the evidence of guilt presented by the prosecution failed to exclude all reasonable probability of any other conclusion; hence the RTC is justified in granting the application for bail," the CA said through Associate Justice Renato Francisco.

"If the prosecution’s evidence does not establish or amount to a great presumption of guilt, the trial court has discretion to grant the bail in favor of the accused," it added.

Lee, Cornejo and Raz were released from detention in September 2014 after posting bail of P500,000 each. 

Days after handing down the order, Cortes inhibited from hearing the case following a plea by DOJ prosecutors. 

Navarro was mauled by Lee's group for allegedly raping Cornejo inside the latter's condominium unit on January 22, 2014, a charge the DOJ dismissed in a review resolution signed by then OIC Prosecutor General Severino Gaña Jr. on September 6. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News