CA upholds guilty ruling

CEBU, Philippines -  The Court of Appeals-Cebu Station has affirmed the conviction of a man found guilty of illegal possession of dangerous drugs.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla, the CA found no error in the decision of the Regional Trial Court that would warrant the reversal of its ruling holding Rolly Racal liable for violation of Section 11, Article II of Republic Act 9165 known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

“After a careful examination of the records of this case, we are satisfied that the prosecution’s evi-dence established the guilt of accused-appellant beyond reasonable doubt. Here, accused-appellant failed to show any palpable error, arbitrariness, or oversight on the findings of fact of the trial court as to warrant a reversal of such findings,” the decision reads.

The RTC convicted Racal in 2011 after finding him guilty of the offense and sentenced him to suffer 12 to 15 years of imprisonment and a fine of P300,000.

However, Racal appealed his case before the CA, claiming the RTC erred in convicting him. He said the prosecution failed to establish the chain of custody of the alleged confiscated pack of shabu and that the evidence of the pro-secution was weak.

The CA ruled to deny the appeal filed by Racal, saying the plastic packet of 0.01 gram of shabu recovered by the police officers who conducted a checkpoint in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City was from Racal.

The appellate court added that Racal’s denial cannot overweight the positive testimonies of the police officers.

“…it is a hornbook doctrine that the evaluation of the trial court of the credibility of the witnesses and their testimonies is entitled to great weight and is generally not disturbed upon appeal. However, such rule does not apply when the trial court has overlooked, misapprehended, or misapplied any fact of weight or substance. In this case, the circumstances that, when properly appreciated, would warrant the acquittal of accused-appellant, are wanting,” the decision reads.

It added that the chain of custody of the seized evidence has been properly preserved contrary to the allegation of the accused-appellant.

“We find that the different links to establish the chain of custody are here present. The testimonies of prosecution witnesses duly established the identity of the shabu seized and the integrity and evidentiary value thereof duly preserved,” the decision further reads. —NSA (FREEMAN)