January 24, 2012 · Posted in: General
Impeachment being conducted
like a criminal trial – Prosecutors
PROSECUTION LAWYERS complained that the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was being handled like a criminal trial, and asked that the proceedings be conducted with more liberality.
Lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. said that while Presiding Officer Juan Ponce Enrile had been “very very fair in the past few days,” the prosecutors want to “call attention of the Senate President and the members of the tribunal on the fundamental issue of how proceedings are being conducted.”
“The prosecution feels that this is being conducted like a criminal trial,” Tupas added. “We feel that the application of the technical rules has been unduly strict, in the presentation of evidence.”
Enrile for his part said he wants to conduct the hearing “in a manner to allow the respondent a speedy trial.”
Enrile repeatedly asked Tupas for his suggestions on how to conduct the proceedings. Enrile asked Tupas if, if he were to follow the suggestion of the prosecution, he should allow misleading questions or hearsay evidence.
“If you want me to relax the rules, then tell me to what extent I must relax the rules,” Enrile added. “I must conduct this proceeding in an orderly manner, and for me to do that, I must follow an ancient rule, and these are the rules of evidence.”
2 Responses to Impeachment being conducted
like a criminal trial – Prosecutors
francisco c. castro
January 25th, 2012 at 9:07 am
While the prosecutors treat Corona, via “trial by publicity”, like a criminal, they do not want rules applicable to a criminal trial. They want an easier path of working. They are like saying, “Let is be easier for us to treat THAT CRIMINAL with more liberal rules”. This is dishonesty.
Rey Santiaga
January 26th, 2012 at 10:27 am
Though the impeachment trial is an extraordinary hearing, both prosecution and defense need to be prepared to present their cases in an orderly and legal fashion. I have to share some observations: 1) Did the prosecution have all the evidence before they file the impeachment complaint? Since I am not a lawyer, I am not sure if it is possible for anyone to accuse anybody and then once the complaint is filed, the accuser would start looking for evidence after the filing? 2) Did the prosecution have a list of witnesses they plan to present and the purpose of each witnesses? Is it not good legal practice to have these list given to the court and the defense in order to ensure due process is followed? 3) Can a juror ask questions in aid of either contending parties? Can the chair object to the questions being ask if it appears to be illiciting answers for either parties? 4) In the interest of public knowledge, is it possible for the senate to conduct a weekly nationwide press conference outlining the summary of the previous hearings and what is expected in the succeeding hearings? At present, both prosecution and defense conduct their press briefings and obviously, they have to protect their biased opinions. I think the senate should conduct their own press briefings to state the actual facts on what has transpired and what is expected to happen. The briefings should be in simple layman’s manner so the public would not be misinformed.