De Lima to ask Muntinlupa court to allow filing of demurrer

The camp of former Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday said they would ask a Muntinlupa court to allow them to file a demurrer to evidence which, if granted, would dismiss her remaining drug case.

Atty. Boni Tacardon, De Lima’s legal counsel, said they are currently in the process of filing their opposition to the formal offer of evidence of the prosecution before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206.

Following this, he said they would wait for the court’s resolution on the evidence.

“Once it is resolved, under the rules, we are given a certain period of time, I think five days, to file what we call a demurrer to evidence, which in layman’s term is motion to dismiss a criminal case,” Tacardon told CNN.

“Ngayon, a motion to dismiss will now be based on our claim that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” he added.

According to Tacardon, it is reasonable to believe that the case may be dismissed in the next months.

On Monday, after almost seven years in detention, de Lima was freed on bail in her remaining drug case before the court.

De Lima’s first acquittal came in February 2021 when the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 junked one of her three cases.

On May 12, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 acquitted de Lima and Ronnie Dayan, her co-accused and former bodyguard, of an illegal drug trading charge on the grounds of reasonable doubt. — DVM, GMA Integrated News