Quote Originally Posted by Galactus View Post
^^^ Strictly speaking, the family of the dead perp can act as the private complainant. They don't have to act as witnesses, since wala naman sila sa crime scene when it happened. It's a criminal case after all, and the state is the plaintiff. But as private complainants, they must sign the Information Sheet (IS).

News reports are not null. If an authorized executive of the newspaper can testify in court that the report did appear in the newspaper, then it can be taken cognizance of in court. Also, the reporter can be summoned as a witness to affirm his story.
True. But the probative value of the testimony of the news executive/reporter would be limited to the fact that such news article or report appeared in their paper or program. My knowledge on the rules of evidence is a little rusty, but, anything further than that (i.e. identity of the suspect, weapon used, etc.) would be considered hearsay unless the executive/reporter has personal knowledge of the crime or incident.