Court junks murder charge vs VM Rojas’ slay suspect
The court has not found enough evidence to prove the guilt of the alleged mastermind in the killing of Vice Mayor Ramon Rojas of Ajuy town, Iloilo in 2008.
In a 49-page decision, Judge Froilan Gregory Abalajon of Regional Trial Court Branch 38, dismissed the case against Vicente “Etik” Espinosa after the court found no evidence to establish the probable guilt of the accused.
“The testimony of a co-conspirator is not a credible evidence against a co-conspirator. That’s what we used as basis,” lawyer Edeljulio Romero, Espinosa’s legal counsel, said.
Apparently, the testimony of Dennis Cartagena, one of the two gunmen who killed Rojas, is not sufficient to establish Espinosa’s guilt.
“The rationale behind the law is that the accused has no opportunity to cross examine his co-conspirator during the preliminary investigation,” Romero said.
Late last year, a three-man panel from the Department of Justice amended the resolution earlier handed down by Provincial Prosecutor Bernabe Dusaban which cleared Espinosa from any participation in Rojas’s death.
Before that, the provincial prosecutor found no merit in Cartagena’s statement which could pin down Espinosa.
Cartagena surrendered after a failed attempt on his life.
He and the other gunman, Edgar Cordero, fled to Butuan City after they were tagged in Rojas’s death. The two were ambushed – Cordero died while Cartagena managed to escape.
Rojas died on the spot from four gunshot wounds, including two on the head, after he was shot by two motorcycle-riding assailants dawn of May 22, 2008 while having his usual early morning walk along the national highway in Brgy. Central in Ajuy.*
