Judge denies bid to junk Kian slay case

MANILA, Philippines — The judge hearing the murder case against three Caloocan police officers for the death of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos denied the lawmen’s bid to dismiss the case.

The prosecution and defense panels on Thursday orally offered their exhibits of evidence, formally wrapping up the presentation of prosecution evidence.

Caloocan RTC Branch 125 Presiding Judge Rodolfo Azucena Jr. later denied in open court the defense panel’s motion for leave to file a demurrer to evidence, saying the prosecution was able to present sufficient evidence.

The judge allowed the defense panel to present its first witness on Aug. 6 – one of the accused, Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares.

Northern Police District medicolegal expert Chief Inspector Jocelyn Padilla Cruz testified on Delos Santos’ autopsy report, which showed that his body bore bullet wounds in the head, possibly shot by two assailants at close range while the teenager was sitting or kneeling down.

The prosecution said Cruz’s testimony complements that of an earlier witness who saw the plainclothesmen assailants shove the boy down before shooting him on Aug. 16, 2017, and that of the National Bureau of Investigation ballistician Hayasmin Abarrientos who said the downward direction of the bullets based on the graze and dents at the crime scene suggest the assailant was standing while pointing his gun downward.

The lawyers for Oares and Police Officers 1 Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz said the autopsy results and the witness testimonies were hearsay evidence and do not prove that they intentionally killed the teenager.

Police alleged Delos Santos was a drug runner who fought back in a police operation. His body, found slumped in the mud with a gunshot wound in the head, suggested he was shot defenseless, the prosecution said.

The teenager’s death sparked outrage against police abuses in the administration’s war on drugs.

A court decision would mark the first acquittal or conviction of police officers for alleged abuses in connection with the drug war.