Ellah Joy slay suspects ask court to dismiss complaint

Insisting there has been no sufficient evidence against them, Bella Ruby Santos and her British partner, Charles Griffiths, are asking the court to dismiss the charges they are facing in relation to the kidnap-slay of Ellah Joy Pique.

Defense counsel Rameses Villagonzalo said the case filed against his clients is based on “lie and frame-up.”

“Frame-up cases, just like this present case, are doomed to fail. With all due respect, the only just, legal and moral way to dispose of this case is to grant herein demurrer and to dismiss this case,” he said in his demurrer to evidence filed before Judge Ester Veloso of the Regional Trial Court Branch 6.

Villagonzalo also requested the court to lift the Hold Departure Order it earlier issued against Santos as well as the International Police’s Red Notice List against Griffiths who was tagged as a “fugitive from justice.”

Santos and Griffiths are facing charges of kidnapping with homicide, a non-bailable offense.
Santos was released from jail last year after the court granted her motion for bail due to the failure of the prosecution to present a strong evidence against her.

Griffiths, on the other hand, has not been arrested.

“When the prosecution is composed of three diverse lawyer groups, consistent-lying lovers/police assets, incompetent police investigators, and poorly-coached sweet little children, it would result to one thing clear: disaster,” Villagonzalo said.

He said even the 55 DNA samples taken from the house and the Mitsubishi Pajero of Santos yielded negative result of Ellah Joy’s DNA;

“Meaning to say, it is conclusive that the deceased had never been at the house and Pajero of Santos at any given time. That fact alone would suffice the immediate dismissal of this case,” he said.

He said the evidence presented by the prosecution were inherently insufficient and very weak as the state failed to discharge its burden to prove the guilt of the two accused beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution has already finished presenting all their evidence in court. It’s now the turn of the defense to present necessary proof to prove the innocence of the accused.

However, Villagonzalo opted to file a demurrer to evidence which if granted will result to the dismissal of the charges.

Ellah Joy, 6, was kidnapped outside the Calajoan Elementary School in Minglanilla town, south Cebu on Feb. 8, 2011. Her body was found dumped at a ravine in Barili town the following day.