Republic of the Philippines - Campaign

APPELLANTS’ BRIEF
People of the Philippines vs. Fortuna, et. al.
S. C. G. R. No. 141660-64
This explanation in according the trial court’s findings with finality finds no
application in this instant case because the Judge who penned the decision was not the
same Judge who was able to observe the demeanor of this particular eyewitness when the
testimony was presented in court. In such a case where the observations of the trial judge
as to the demeanor of a witness was not considered in arriving at the conclusions about
the credibility of the witness, there is no other way of testing the credibility of such
witness save by scrutinizing the contents of his testimony.
We have shown, through a careful scrutiny of Freddie Alejo’s testimony, that the
trial court’s findings on his credibility are arbitrary in that it relied heavily on the
testimony even if there were contradictions and omissions that were never explained. We
have also shown facts and circumstances of weight and influence that might have been
overlooked (like the glaring discrepancy in the description of the suspects with the
physical appearance of Lenido Lumanog), misunderstood (like the actual number of
suspects that witness saw at the crime scene, also discussed as a separate assignment of
error), or misapplied (like the concept of positive identification having been misapplied
to the identification made by the witness in open court, which we assail as not a clear and
positive identification at all) by the trial judge.
Add to this the bias that resulted from receiving housing accommodations and
probably other benefits from the victim’s family which the trial court failed to consider in
assessing the credibility of Freddie Alejo.
All of these, when considered, will surely affect the result of the case warranting
the setting aside of the trial court’s findings as to the credibility of witness Freddie Alejo.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN APPRECIATING ALEJO'S
EARLY SWORN STATEMENT TO MEAN THAT THERE
WERE FIVE, NOT FOUR, SUSPECTS HE SAW PERPETRATE
THE CRIME.
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