THE Sandiganbayan has denied a bid by a Quezon City assistant prosecutor for the outright dismissal of the direct bribery charge filed against him in 2014 after being caught in an entrapment operation in the act of accepting marked money in a public restaurant.
In its 33-page resolution dated October 25, 2022, the Fourth Division held that accused Raul Desembrana must present countervailing evidence to overcome the government’s case, which is backed by eyewitness testimonies of the arresting officer as well as records of mobile phone communications between him and the complainants’ counsel.
Desembrana had filed a demurrer to evidence, saying the evidence presented by Ombudsman prosecutors to support the allegations against him were insufficient to prove his guilt.
He said the testimony offered by prosecutors that he received the money in a white envelope was not established beyond reasonable doubt because the witnesses were unreliable while their statements made in court were hearsay.
Desembrana was accused of demanding P80,000 from two persons with pending unjust vexation cases before his office in exchange for resolving the case in their favor.
Based on the testimony of witnesses, after several exchanges through mobile phone calls and text messages, the accused met with the counsel of the respondents and was given a draft copy of a resolution and an envelope supposedly containing the amount agreed upon.
