Court clears Joavan in drug case

Joavan Fernandez (File photo)

There’s one less criminal case for Joavan Fernandez to deal with.

The Cebu City Regional Trial Court dismissed a drug case filed in 2008 against the controversial son of former Talisay Mayor Socrates Fernandez by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Judge Enriqueta Loquillano-Belarmino cited the failure of the NBI to safeguard evidence.

“The prosecution’s failure to prove the evidence’s chain of custody merits appellant’s acquittal,” said the judge.

Fernandez was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after he was arrested by NBI agents in a massage parlor in Talisay City in Oct. 6, 2008. Joavan’s adoptive father, Socrates, was the city’s mayor at the time of his arrest.

The younger Fernandez, who is in detention at the Cebu Provincial Rehabilitation and Detention Center, will however remain incarcerated despite the ruling as he is still facing trial for illegal possession of explosives, a non-bailable offense.

Authorities claimed to have found three lighters, an improvised tooter, and several pieces of rolled aluminum foil in Fernandez’s pants.

Judge Belarmino said that the NBI failed to specify in the complaint which items were seized by the its agents.

“With the foregoing ratiocinations, there is uncertainty as to who had initial custody to particular items,” she said.

In his testimony, Fernandez said he was surprised to see illegal drug paraphernalia in his pants. He claimed that the NBI agents refused to allow him to wear his pair of pants when they barged into the massage parlor.

He said he was only allowed to wear his pants when they arrived at the NBI office where he was told to empty his pockets.

Fernandez said there were no government officials nor representatives from the Department of Justice when the items that were allegedly seized were subjected to an inventory.

This, his counsel argued, was a violation of the law.

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