A Pasay court yesterday junked the motion to quash information filed by the two accused in the rape through sexual assault case filed by actor Sandro Muhlach.
If the motion have been granted by Branch 114 of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, it would have led to the dismissal of the cases against Jojo Nunes and Richard Cruz
With this, the court proceeded with the arraignment of Nunes and Cruz.
Their lawyer, Maggie Abraham Garduque, said her clients pleaded not guilty to the cases.
“Sa ngayon ay natuloy ang arraignment and pre-trial. ‘Yung arraignment po, binasa doon sa dalawang akusado ‘yung information o akusa sa kanila. At nag-plead po ng not guilty ang dalawang akusado,” Garduque said in a television interview.
(So now, the arraignment and pre-trial has proceeded. At the arraignment, the accusation against them was read.And the two pleaded not guilty).
Garduque said her clients will eventually be able to prove their innocence of the cases filed against them.
Nunes and Cruz have denied raping or sexually abusing the young actor, who is a scion of the Muhlach clan.
State prosecutors said filed one count of rape through sexual assault under Article 266 B, Paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and two counts of act of lasciviousness under Article 266 of the RPC against Nones and Cruz.
But the Pasay City Metropolitan Trial Court has granted Nunes and Cruz’s motion to quash of the act of lasciviousness cases early this month.
Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon earlier stressed that despite minor inconsistencies in Muhlach’s statement, there are “not enough” to debunk the truthfulness of his allegations against the two.
He said the inconsistencies could have been due to the natural reaction of someone who is a victim of a crime or sexual assault.
The prosecutors, Fadullon added, also found that the element of force and intimidation was established by Muhlach.
The alleged sexual abuse supposedly took place after the GMA Network gala night last July 20.
GMA7 earlier said it had already initiated its own investigation even before receiving the formal complaint from Muhlach.
