Evidence in murder case vs ex-presidential grandson fabricated - defense lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - The defense panel in the murder case against former presidential grandson Luisito Gonzalez, accused of killing of his stepbrother Federico Delgado, on Thursday accused the policemen who investigated the crime scene of fabricating evidence against the suspect. During the hearing at the Court of Appeals, lawyer Estelito Mendoza said the police clearly did not follow the basic and rudimentary procedures in dealing with a crime scene when they failed to take fingerprints and fiber analysis from the room to determine if there are traces of Gonzalez’s presence at the time of the killing. “Apparently the police came into some conclusions wherein what they had been doing were just to justify those conclusions, unfortunately... That will make our citizenry practically under the gun of the police authorities,” he alleged. Mendoza said that it is the responsibility of the police to look for objective evidence “that is beyond fabrication,” and it should be proven before a preliminary investigation. Mendoza also said the principal witness in the crime, Delgado’s girlfriend Annalisa Pesico, should also be named as suspect. Pesico, who was with Delgado during the crime but survived the attack, had pinpointed Gonzalez and his driver Antonio Buenaflor as their assailants. “I think that she should be a suspect. The point here is whether the statement of Pesico was true. In fact, Ms Pesico should have been a suspect also because she's the only one who has admitted that she was with the deceased when he was killed. No other person has made that admission. She is the only one who says there were two other persons. There was no proof that there were two other persons,” Mendoza said. Gonzalez is the ex-husband of singer Kuh Ledesma and grandson of President Quirino. He was tagged in the March 10, 2007 murder of 51-year old Delgado, son of shipping magnate Francisco Delgado. Handcuffed and wearing a bullet-proof vest, Gonzalez appeared in the hearing before the CA for the first time since the killing. He surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation Wednesday afternoon following the issuance of a warrant of arrest by the Manila regional trial court. During the hearing, CA Associate Justices Rosalinda Vicente, Fernanda Lampas-Peralta and Teresita Flores grilled the Delgado family’s counsel, Gabriel Enriquez, on why the complainants did not bother to interrogate the security guard manning the Mayflower building where the victim was residing. The magistrates claimed that the still unnamed security guard may have some vital information that could help in determining the identity of the suspects. “Why did you not get the statement from the security guard? It might be possible for him to know who went in and out of the building? Did you not think that the statement of the security guard is important to your case? How can you convince the ordinary man in the street that Pesico was telling the truth? How can you expect us to rule on mere speculations?” Peralta said. Peralta further asked Enriquez how Pesico could have hidden and identified the assailants when she had earlier confessed that her hands and feet were bound and her head covered with thick cloth. Enriquez said it was out of sheer faith that Pesico managed to hide inside the walk-in closet, given her “limited mobility.” He added that Pesico stated that she was only able to identify Gonzalez when he removed his mask due to the heat inside the room. The lawyer also said that it was not his job to investigate the security guard as he was concentrating on the legal aspect of the case. After the hearing, the appellate court said that the case will be deemed submitted for resolution if none of the parties would submit any more manifestations. Gonzalez claimed that since he was confined and fully sedated at the maximum-security ward of Makati Medical Center from March 7 to 18, he could not have been at the scene of the crime on March 10. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) junked his defense, saying he did not present anyone from the hospital to corroborate his story. The Delgado family alleged that the killing had something to do with the voluminous documents that the victim was able to secure from the residence of his 91-year-old father and late wife Vicky Quirino-Gonzales, the suspect's mother. These documents would allegedly show how the assets of the Delgado patriarch were being siphoned off and sold by the Gonzalez and his kin. - GMANews.TV