28-7-2023 (MANILA) The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 has rejected the prosecution’s bid to reverse the acquittal of former Senator Leila De Lima from one of her two remaining drug trafficking charges. The court said that the motion for prosecution filed by the state was “denied for lack of merit” in a decision dated July 6.
In February 2017, the justice department had filed a case against De Lima and her former driver Ronnie Dayan, accusing them of conspiring to commit illegal drug trading. However, in May, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 dismissed the case based on the recantation of one of the witnesses against De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos.
The court’s decision stressed that the rule against double jeopardy is “only subject to extremely rare exceptions.” These exceptions include when there has been a deprivation of due process, a finding of mistrial, or a grave abuse of discretion under exceptional circumstances.
The prosecution had asked the court to review its judgment, citing the Supreme Court’s statement that a mere recantation of a prosecution witness does not automatically invalidate their original testimony if it is deemed credible. However, the court’s decision stated that “no rule is more settled than that a judgment of acquittal is immediately final and unappealable upon its promulgation, and that accordingly, the prosecution may not seek its review without placing the accused in double jeopardy.”
De Lima has been a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and has been detained since 2017 on drug charges that she has repeatedly denied. She was released on bail in April 2021 after spending more than three years in detention.
