CA upholds murder conviction of road rage killer Jason Ivler

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals upheld the murder conviction of Jason Ivler over the killing of the son of a former government official in a road altercation incident in 2009.

Ivler sought the appellate court to overturn the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84's conviction on the shooting of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. on Nov. 18, 2009.

But the CA 14th Division junked the appeal and held that the Ivler "stands convicted of murder," and that the "prosecution has proven all of the elements of murder."

Ivler went into hiding in his family's residence for almost two months. His mother, Marlene Aguilar-Pollard, initially said that his son may have fled to Hawaii.

READ: Jason Ivler gets life for road rage murder

But the National Bureau of Investigation, after receiving a tip, conducted surveillance of the residence. On Jan. 18, 2010, the agents entered the residence. They were met with a hail of gunfire when they opened the door to the basement of the house.

Ivler, in his defense before the CA, said that the "prosecution eyewitnesses failed to positively identify him as the perpetrator of the crime." He also asserted that eyewitnesses, Senior Police Officer 3 Edgar Tiodin and Archie Castillo, are not credible.

The CA, however, stressed that the evaluation of the credibility of witnesses is "best left to the sound discretion of the trial judge."

"Moreover, the RTC noted that the testimonies of the eyewitnesses established that they were only a short distance away from where the shooting happened and that the place of commission was well-lit, making it entirely possible for said witnesses to identify the gunman," the CA also held.

"We find it erroneous, to say the least, for the accused-appellant to label the testimonies of the eyewitnesses as incredulous," the 32-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Cruz reads.

The appellate court also slapped Ivler with steeper damage fines.

The RTC earlier ordered Ivler to pay the bereaved of Ebarle of P9,124,164 for the loss of earning capacity, P143,890 for burial expenses, P75,000 for moral damages and P30,000 as exemplary damages.

The CA, in ruling on Ivler's appeal, increased the accused-apellant's actual damages representing burial expenses from P143,890 to P616,590; moral damages from P75,000 to P100,000; exemplary damages from P30,000 to 100,000 ad civil indemnity for P100,000.

The said amount shall earn the interest at the rate of six percent per year from the time of finality of this decision until fully paid.