Leviste gets 6 to 12 years for homicide

Former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste was convicted yesterday of homicide and sentenced to six to 12 years for killing his executive assistant Rafael de las Alas two years ago.

Judge Elmo Alameda of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 found Leviste guilty of homicide because the prosecution failed to prove that he had committed murder.

Leviste was ordered to pay the De las Alas family P50,000 in moral damages and another P50,000 in death indemnity.

Alameda committed Leviste to the Makati City Jail pending his transfer to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa.

Alameda denied the last- minute efforts of Leviste’s lawyers to have him released on bail for 15 more days while they move for a reconsideration of the verdict.

The judge said he could not grant the request even on humanitarian grounds because the rules on convictions by lower courts did not allow it.

Leviste’s lawyers said their client would be celebrating his 69th birthday tomorrow.

Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco also opposed the move of the defense.

“If this crime happened to the good governor, and it was Rafael de las Alas who killed him, we would also take the same position,” he said.

Loren speaks

Sen. Loren Legarda said yesterday, “Let justice be served,” when sought for reaction on the homicide conviction of Leviste, her estranged husband.

She appealed to the media to spare her two sons with Leviste from the issue.

In convicting Leviste of homicide, the court said the prosecution, after presenting more than a dozen witnesses, failed to establish the elements of the crime of murder.

“No evidence was presented to show that the accused planned to kill the victim in conspiracy with other persons or that the accused facilitated the killing of the victim,” read the decision.

The court said the prosecution also failed to establish the existence of treachery in the killing of De las Alas on Jan. 12, 2007 at the 9th floor of the LPL Towers building in Legaspi Village, Makati City.

“The fact that the victim was seated on a chair at the time he was found dead inside the office of the accused does not conclusively establish that he had the same vulnerable position when he was shot,” read the decision.

The court said the conflicting testimonies of medico-legal experts as to how close the gun was to De las Alas when it was fired are also mere probabilities, which cannot be a substitute for proof.

“Treachery cannot be inferred but must be proved as fully and convincingly as the crime itself,” read the decision.

“Any doubt as to its existence must be resolved in favor of the accused. Notwithstanding the admission of the killing by the accused, his admission does not include that of the qualifying circumstance of treachery.”

The court said the prosecution also failed to establish evident pre-meditation or cruelty on the part of Leviste.

“Even granting that the initial gunshot wound inflicted on the victim was not fatal, the number of wounds sustained by him, by itself, is not proof of cruelty,” read the decision.

“For failure of the prosecution to prove treachery or other circumstance which would qualify the killing of the victim to murder, the accused should only be held liable for the crime of homicide.”

The court did not believe Leviste’s claim that he killed De las Alas in self-defense.

“In fact, even if the victim’s stance was aggressive when he entered the accused’s office and was provocative with his remarks, the accused merely considered them as the normal and usual behavior of the victim, having known his averred pugnacious character for a long, long time,” read the decision.

“Evidently, the claim of the accused that the victim was the aggressor deserves disbelief.

“The defense failed to prove unlawful aggression on the part of the victim.” 

The court said Leviste’s refusal to undergo a paraffin test after he surrendered himself to Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz negates his claim of self-defense.

“There was no longer any reason for the accused to shoot (De las Alas) four times even aiming at the head, a vital organ,” read the court decision.

“The nature and number of wounds inflicted by the accused are constantly and unremittingly considered as important indicia which disproved the claim of the accused of self-defense because they demonstrated a determined effort on his part to kill the victim and not just to defend himself.

“All told, the accused failed to satisfy the requirements of self-defense to justify the shooting of the victim.”

Loren speaks

Sen. Loren Legarda said yesterday, “Let justice be served,” when sought for reaction on the homicide conviction of Leviste, her estranged husband.

She appealed to the media to spare her two sons with Leviste from the issue. — With Christina Mendez