Republic of the Philippines - Campaign

APPELLANTS’ BRIEF
People of the Philippines vs. Fortuna, et. al.
S. C. G. R. No. 141660-64
directly to recall and communicate accurately affecting his credibility as a witness whose
testimony cannot be relied upon because his narration of his observations do not capture
the facts he has observed.
Freddie Alejo described the suspect who pointed a gun at him in this manner:
“Iyong tumutok sa aking ay naka-asul na t-shirt, edad 30-35, 5’5”-5’6” ang taas,
katamtaman ang katawan, maikli ang buhok, kayumanggi.” Since the witness was only
able to give a description of one suspect who pointed a gun at him and yet in open court
he testified that there were two suspects who separately pointed a gun at him, it is not
clear as to whom among the two accused he pointed in court as those who pointed a gun
at him would this description be used as a basis. If this would be used as a basis in tying
up the appearance of Lorenzo delos Santos, then it would already be an utter mistake as
Lorenzo was in fact acquitted by the trial court. If this would be used for Joel de Jesus, on
the other hand, the same would also not tie up with the physical appearance of Joel de
Jesus who was just 22 years old then and not 30-35 and who stands 5’9” and not 5’5”-
5’6” as the witness had described.
Considering that the Judge who penned the decision in this instant case was not
the Judge who observed the testimony of Freddie Alejo when he identified the accused in
open court, there could have been no possibility that the level of certainty demonstrated
by the witness at the identification was ever considered in coming up with the decision.
Clearly then, none of the accused who have been handed down the death penalty
by the trial court was positively identified by witness Freddie Alejo applying the totality
of circumstances test that this Court has devised.
The death sentence hanging over the heads of the five accused-appellants in this
case and the big possibility that the actual killers of the late Col. Rolando Abadilla are
still roaming freely necessitate revisiting what this Court has said in People vs. Arapok.
“Once again we stress that the correct identification of
the author of a crime should be the primal concern of criminal
prosecution in any civilized legal system. Corollary to this is the
actuality of the commission of the offense with the participation
of the accused. All these must be proved by the State beyond
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