Judge cuts short hearing as Torralba loses temper

Regional Trial Court judge Eric Menchavez was forced to adjourn the hearing of the frustrated murder case filed by radioman Cirse "Choy" Torralba when the complainant failed to control his emotion.

Torralba, a veteran hard-hitting radio commentator, lost his temper when he was cross-examined by defense counsel Rolando P. Quimbo about the exact location of the gunman who shot him while he was inside his vehicle on June 8, 2004.

At first, Torralba said the suspect, John Lloyd Ortiz, who was only about four to five feet away from him during the incident, positioned himself near the right side of the vehicle's hood.

"I'm sure it was him who shot me" Torralba told the court, referring to Ortiz who was just listening to his testimonies. He said the gunman was still firing when he moved closer to the passenger side of the vehicle.

Torralba said he was not hit during the first three shots and promptly grabbed his .38 caliber revolver to fire back.

But when Quimbo asked him of the gunman's exact location when he fired the fourth and succeeding shots, Torralba said, "How could I recall the exact location that I was the one being shot? It's good that you were not the one who was shot."

Quimbo refreshed the memory of Torralba about his testimony during the recent trial of the case in which he mentioned that he believed that when he fired back five times, he hit the "handsome" gunman.

Then Quimbo presented Ortiz before the court and ordered him to remove his polo shirt to show that the accused has no scars in his body.

Quimbo wanted to prove that Ortiz is not the real gunman because if indeed he was, Ortiz was also wounded because Torralba had mentioned that the gunman was only four to five feet away when he fired back.

"That's what you think, but I know he was the one who shot me" Torralba told Quimbo.

Quimbo also asked Torralba if he had verified hospitals in the city after the incident to find out if there was any person who had sought treatment for wounds.

But this irked Torralba, saying the lawyer was "stupid" because it was impossible for him to verify from the hospitals that time considering that he was confined at a hospital.

Menchavez was forced to cut short the trial and ordered for its continuation this afternoon.

Torralba was convinced that it was Ortiz who tried to kill him on suspicion that he had an affair with his girlfriend, who used to be one of his staff during the candidacy of Loren Legarda for vice president.