By Non Alquitran (philstar.com) Updated December 14, 2010 05:00 PM Comments (9)MANILA, Philippines – Citing insufficiency of evidence, a Pasig City judge dismissed today the violation of Republic Act 9262 or violence against women and their children against Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. regarding his sex video with actress Katrina Halili which circulated in the Internet last year.
Judge Rodolfo Bonifacio, of the Pasig City regional trial court (RTC) Branch 159 also dismissed for lack of merit the P100 million civil damages claimed by Halili against Kho Jr. In a 10-page decision penned by Bonifacio dated December 10, the judge found the Demurer to Evidence filed by Kho Jr., to be meritorious, “the same if hereby granted.”
In a layman’s term, Demurrer to Evidence is equivalent to motion to dismiss in a civil case. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the case against Kho Jr. before the Pasig RTC last Dec. 7 last year after the sex video of the accused and Halili circulated in the Internet. Up to yesterday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has not yet established who uploaded the sex video, which circulated all over the world.
In his decision, Bonifacio pointed out that the admissions of Halili during the Senate hearing last May 8, 2009 that she consented to the taking by the accused of three prior video recordings showing her and the accused together performing salacious acts “clearly indicates that she agreed to the taking, or at the very least knew, of the subject sex video recording.”
The judge also noted that during an ocular inspection proceedings in the hotel were the sex act was committed that the camera used in video recording must have been placed where it was not hidden from Halili.
Citing facts and circumstances, Bonifacio concluded that the subject video recording cannot be without the private complainant’s knowledge. In the said ocular inspection, the court noted that the video camera was situated in an open and unconcealed place, which cannot escape unnoticed.
The court found the evidence insufficient to prove that the sex video was taken without Halili’s knowledge. It added that the mere taking of the sex video by Kho without Halili’s knowledge and consent is not yet a violation of Republic Act 9262 otherwise known as Anti-Violence against Women and Their Children Act of 2004. “It becomes a crime only when the said act “alarms or causes substantial emotional or psychological distress to the woman.”
Kho’s lead counsel Lorna Kapunan was not present during the supposed presentation of evidence but held a brief conference at her office in Taguig City. “We are happy that the court ruled that there is no basis to the cases filed against Hayden,” she said. Kapunan said that the court’s decision would also be used to convince the Professional Regulation Commission to lift the revocation of Kho’s medical license.
“Hay naku, naka-frustrate,” said Halili’s lawyer Raymond Palad as he vowed to “definitely file an Appeal from the decision.” “It is not an acquittal for Hayden who refused to take the witness stand. We believe that justice will be on our side at the end of the day.” Palad described Bonifacio’s decision as “Just a temporary setback.”
Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=639188&publicationSubCategoryId=200
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