Christine’s former boyfriend (center) is escorted by NBI agents to the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office in this March 18, 2019 photo. | CDN Digital
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Christine Lee Silawan rape-slay case is becoming a “classic example of the saying that having too many cooks spoil the broth.”
This was the comment of defense lawyer Vincent Isles on the autopsy report which the forensic team of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) released on Tuesday.
Read More: PAO’s autopsy findings: Silawan was raped, face burned with sulfuric acid
Isles, the counsel for Silawan’s 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, said that the contradicting outcome of the separate autopsies conducted by the PAO forensic team and Crime Laboratory of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) could weaken the murder case against his client.
Read More: Autopsy reveals there is a possibility murdered Lapu church collector wasn’t raped
“What they are doing is making the case very weak, so much that I doubt if they can convict anyone,” Isles told Cebu Daily News Digital in an interview on Wednesday, April 3.
Isles said that contradicting investigation findings also diminishes the possibility of finding the “real” culprits in the girl’s murder.
“Ang resulta hinuon ani, luoy kaayo ang pamilya ni Christine, ug si Christine mismo kay di sila mahatagan og hustisya. Di na hinuon ma-trace kung kinsa gyud. The evidence is contaminated, the experts have different opinion. Unsa man gyud? Gi-rape o wala? Gibuboan og asido o wala?” Isles said.
While finding justice for Silawan’s death is a priority, Isles said that law enforcement agencies should not forget the presumption of innocence on the part of his client, a minor who is now under the protective custody of the Lapu-lapu City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).
Read More: Duterte orders re-arrest of suspect in Christine Silawan killing
Isles also called PAO’s attention on earlier plans to file a supplemental complaint against suspects in the Silawan rape-slay case which he said was “improper.”
“I think it is also improper if they say that they will file a supplemental complaint because you can only have one complainant. Pwede sila mo-attach pero via NBI. Ang NBI gihapon ang magsubmit,” Isles said./dcb