THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 16 has yet to rule on the plea whether the three accused in the murder case of Cebu-based businessman Richard King can be state witnesses against former policeman Leonardo Felonia, who was tagged as head of the murder case.
Accused Paul Dave Molina Labang, the identified triggerman, along with brothers Rommel and Rodel dela Cerna, were earlier charged with murder based on the complaint of James King, the victim's brother, and the extrajudicial confession of the accused.
The prosecution panel of the case earlier agreed to utilize the three accused as state witness. The prosecutors claimed that the testimonies of the accused are necessary since there is no evidence available for the prosecution of the case.
Private prosecutor lawyer Deolito Alvarez and government prosecutor Victoriano Bello, Jr. earlier asked the court to discharge the three accused from the case to be the prosecution's witnesses against Felonia.
In an order dated July 18 this year, RTC Branch 16 Judge Emmanuel Carpio granted the three accused until July 28 to submit their memorandum in support to the prosecution's motion to discharge them from the case to be witnesses.
The three accused, through lawyer Behn Joseph Tesiorna, has submitted the memorandum in support to prosecution's motion on July 3, hoping the court will grant the motion to discharge the three accused to be state witnesses of the case.
Labang and the two dela Cernas earlier confessed that it was Felonia who paid them to kill King inside the Vital-C building in Barrio Obrero, Davao City last June 12, 2014. King was the owner of the Crown Regency Hotels in Davao City, Cebu City, and Boracay.
Based on the extra-judicial confession of the three accused, the prosecutors assessed that it was Felonia who “organized and masterminded the killing of the businessman and the accused-appellants were mere tools and medium used by Felonia.”
In previous reports, Felonia's lawyer Caesar Europa blocked the prosecution's move to use the three accused as state witnesses. He said Labang and the dela Cerna brothers appeared to be most guilty of the crime.
