Former Batangas Governor Jose Antonio Leviste kills aide

[mazdamazda]

Well, let's just wait for the new investigation to come out if it will be murder or homicide.

At least Leviste had the balls to surrender to the authorities and face the music.

[Airwalk]

self defense my a$$. looks like shooting in rage to me..

hope he gets what he deserves.

[oldblue]

may PTC ba yun biktima?

[Zeus]

DOJ recommends murder raps vs Leviste



By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:51pm (Mla time) 02/02/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Justice has recommended the filing of murder charges against former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste over the death of his longtime friend last month.
Police had charged Leviste with homicide before a local court after he shot and killed Rafael Delas Alas in his office in Makati City.
Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velsaco said in a press conference Friday that an examination of the evidence at the crime scene showed that there was tampering of evidence.
Velasco said that the gun that Delas Alas was holding was not in a natural position, meaning that Leviste had tried to make it appear that Delas Alas had tried to shoot him.
“There was also evident premeditation when a day before Delas Alas was killed, they [the victim and Leviste] already had an argument. When Mr. Leviste called Mr. Delas Alas to his office the next day, it meant that he had the chance to think of what he would do to Delas Alas,” said Velasco.
Velasco added that there was also an element of cruelty as shown by the number of wounds sustained by Delas Alas.
Velasco said that one shot would have been enough if Leviste had meant to stop Delas Alas from attacking him.
The DoJ said Branch 150 of the Makati regional trial court had 10 days to issue a warrant of arrest against Leviste.
Leviste killed Delas Alas in January at his office in LPL Towers in Makati.
The former governor said he committed the crime in self-defense.

[Horsepower]

Leviste surrenders to police after court orders arrest


Charge upgraded form homicide to murder


By Thea Alberto, Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:45pm (Mla time) 02/07/2007




MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste has surrendered to Makati police after he was served an arrest warrant for murder issued by a local court, an official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.



The NBI’s Reynaldo Esmeralda said Leviste was supposed to surrender to them but the Makati police had gone to the former governor’s office at the LPL Towers in Makati on Wednesday.



The original charge of homicide against Leviste for killing his long-time friend Rafael Delas Alas, was upgraded Wednesday to murder by Judge Elmo Almeda of branch 150 of the Makati City Regional Trial, who then issued the warrant of arrest against the former governor.


Murder is a non-bailable offense.


The recommendation to upgrade the charge was submitted Friday by Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, who conducted a reinvestigation after Justice Raul Gonzalez replaced the original prosecutor assigned to the case for filing homicide charges.


Velasco said they had always been confident the court would recognize the results of their investigation.


He also asked the NBI to further investigate the case to identify other possible suspects in the killing of Delas Alas.


"You are hereby ordered, in the in the interest of justice, to coordinate with the Makati police and conduct further investigation into the subject incident to determine the other culprits and those possibly responsible for the tampering of the crime scene," Velasco said.


Velasco’s request to the NBI followed findings by the Makati police’s Scene of the Crime Office (SOCO) that evidence may have been tampered with.
The SOCO said the gun Delas Alas was holding was not in a natural position.


Also, both Delas Alas' and Leviste's gun had no fingerprints, which SOCO said might have been caused by the moisture produced by the air-conditioning unit or someone wiping the prints off..


Velasco asked the NBI to summon all those who had been inside Leviste's office at the LPL Tower on January 12, when the killing happened.
Leviste had earlier admitted to killing Delas Alas but said he had done so in self defense.

[Zeus]

Interesting Leviste series to a

[Zeus]

Leviste bail grant ‘disappointing’


By Tina Santos
Inquirer
Last updated 09:07am (Mla time) 05/24/2007


MANILA, Philippines – The family of Rafael de las Alas yesterday assailed the decision of a Makati judge to grant bail to former Batangas Gov. Antonio Leviste.
“We were very disappointed because he was granted bail despite the obvious cruelty in the killing of my father,” said the victim’s daughter, Dina Sanchez.
“We believe there was a strong case for murder against him,” she stressed during a press conference held at the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption office in Manila yesterday. “We could not understand, what more proof does the judge need to believe that the case was murder and not homicide? We cannot, however, discount the fact that Leviste is a very powerful, very influential man.”
Leviste has confessed to killing De las Alas, his longtime aide, last January. He told the police, however, that he shot the victim in self-defense.
Sanchez’s brother, Nazareth, told reporters that they are considering filing a petition asking the judge handling the case, Makati Judge Elmo Alameda, to inhibit himself from the case.
“We may also consider transferring the case from Makati to another court because from the start, we knew that we were at a disadvantage. But we have yet to confer with our lawyer about this move,” he said.
VACC founding chair Dante Jimenez said Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco would use all legal remedies to correct Alameda’s “unjust decision. Prosecutor Velasco will file a motion for reconsideration,” he said.
De las Alas’ wife, Teresita, said she was “very sad” when she learned about the judge’s decision to allow Leviste to post bail. “It’s very painful for me to accept the decision. I don’t believe the evidence against the suspect was weak,” the teary-eyed widow said in Filipino. “All we want is justice.”
Leviste walked out of the Makati City jail yesterday, a day after he posted a P300,000 bail.


Nagpakain with magic show & dog show pa bago lumabas sa city jail

[Zeus]

Update) Makati court finds Leviste guilty of homicide
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 01/14/2009 9:37 AM

A Makati City court judge on Wednesday sentenced former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste to 12 years in prison for shooting dead his long-time buddy Rafael delas Alas.

A radio dzMM report said Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150 found Leviste guilty of homicide.

Alameda gave Leviste six to 12 years of imprisonment and ordered the former governor to pay P100,000 in moral and civil damages.

The verdict was handed by the judge two years after Leviste shot delas Alas inside his office in LPL Tower in Legaspi Village, Makati City on Jan. 12, 2007.
Since he was found guilty of homicide and not murder, Leviste will be entitled to bail pending an appeal before the Court of Appeals.
However, his first bail bond was cancelled and he will have to go to jail pending a new petition for bail before the appelate court.

On the road to forgiveness

Earlier, delas Alas’s daughter, Dina, said her family is "in the process" of forgiving the former governor.

"Wala na ang galit. Nasa process na kami na patawarin siya (The bitterness is gone. We're now in the process of forgiving him)," Dina told ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda hours before the verdict was announced.

Dina said her family anxiously waited for the court's decision on the case and she had prepared for the worst.

"I hope the decision would be fair, but I'm expecting the worst," she said.

Leviste had admitted shooting his old-time buddy, but said he shot delas Alas in self-defense.

Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, who handled the case, said his team had done their best to prove delas Alas's killing was planned.

as of 01/14/2009 4:31 PM

Guilty of homicide!