Judge told: Arrest of ‘mastermind’ in model’s slay ‘legal’

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of slain model and television talent Julie Ann Rodelas has asked a Quezon City court to dismiss the motion to quash filed by the camp of the alleged mastermind of the crime, saying his arrest was legal.

In a comment filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 223, prosecution lawyer Pete Principe insisted that the arrest of accused Fernando Quiambao Jr. was legal as he was nabbed during a “hot pursuit operation.”

“There is no showing that the investigation was tainted with malice and that the police officers acted in bad faith,” said Principe.

Earlier, Quiambao asked the court to quash the murder charges filed against him, claiming that he and his girlfriend Althea Altamirano were arrested without a warrant in Apalit, Pampanga last Nov. 10.

However, Principe stressed that Quiambao’s arrest was valid and met the Revised Rules of Court provision on hot pursuit operations. “Very clearly, the motion is baseless,” he said.

Rodelas was abducted while she was with Altamirano near the World Trade Center in Pasay City in Nov. 6. Hours later, she was shot dead and pushed from a sport utility vehicle in Cubao, Quezon City.

Altamirano admitted that she agreed to her boyfriend’s plan to teach Rodelas “a lesson” for spreading rumors about her. She insisted, however, that she did not expect that Rodelas would be killed.

Another suspect, Jaymar Waradje, pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. He earlier admitted his involvement in the abduction but not in the killing of Rodelas. The prosecution is planning to turn Waradje into a state witness.