CA gives green light to prosecute suspect in 2010 Bar exams blast

The Court of Appeals has given the go-signal for the Department of Justice to prosecute a member of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity over a bomb blast that left at least 50 injured during the 2010 Bar exams.

 

In a 17-page decision penned by Associate Justice Francisco Acosta, the CA's Special Fourth Division denied a petition filed by Anthony Nepomuceno, the alleged grenade-thrower, seeking to nullify a prosecution attorney's April 27, 2011 finding of probable cause to charge him for multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder.

 

The grenade explosion happened outside the De La Salle University. 

 

The appellate court held that the DOJ did not commit grave abuse of discretion in recommending the filing of criminal cases against Nepomuceno. 

 

The CA said Nepomuceno's defense that the affidavits of the witnesses presented by the National Bureau of Investigation are inconsistent and the positive identifications were questionable are matters that should be addressed during the trial proper. 

 

"Thus, the perceived inconsistencies in the statements of the witnesses are not sufficient to debunk the investigating prosecutor's finding of probable cause against Nepomuceno," the CA said. 

 

"In fact, considering the suddenness of the incident and the overall ruckus attendant at the last Sunday of the Bar examinations, the slight inconsistencies in the statements of the witnesses are deemed natural," the court added. 

 

The CA also agreed with the investigating prosecutor that Nepomuceno relied on denial and alibi but was not able to demonstrate that it was physically impossible for him to be at the place of the crime when it happened. 

 

"We are not preemptively judging the merits of Nepomuceno's case nor are we ruling on his culpability or the lack thereof. At this point in time, these matters are best left to the proper court which is tasked to assess the merits of a party's accusation or defense, as well as the weight and probative value of evidence presented, " the CA stressed. 

 

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Noel Tijam and Agnes Reyes Carpio. 

 

Aside from multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder, the investigating prosecutor also found probable cause to indict for illegal possession of explosive. 

 

In its resolution, the DOJ held that Nepomuceno’s submission of a photocopy of a receipt issued by an automated teller machine of a Metrobank Branch in Barangka, Marikina is not sufficient to support his claim that he was not at the crime scene. 

 

The CA said Nepomuceno failed to prove the receipt belonged to his account and that the date and time indicated in the said receipt was September 26, 2010 at exactly 19:49:29 or 7:49 p.m. 

 

The DOJ said the bombing happened at 5:10 p.m., and that there was a two-hour window from the bombing and the issuance of the ATM receipt. 

 

The DOJ did not give weight to affidavits of witnesses submitted by Nepomuceno because they are from members of his family, friends, and fraternity brothers and sisters. 

 

It also did not give credence to the statement given by a certain Marissa Despe, allegedly an independent witness for the respondent, saying that the person whom she saw being chased by a group of individuals after the explosion occurred was not Nepomuceno. 

 

The DOJ said Despe’s claim failed to overcome the positive identification of the witnesses of the complainants. — JDS, GMA News