DOJ on Richard Gutierrez’s homicide case: Dismissed

Tuesday, 23 March 2010 11:00 Iris Rebao-Pulga

March 10, 2010 - In a five-page resolution signed by outgoing Secretary Agnes VST Devanadera, the Department of Justice dismissed the case Reckless Imprudence Resulting to Homicide filed by Lorayne Pardo against actor Richard Gutierrez. Lorayne is the widow of Nomar Pardo, Gutierrez’s personal assistant who died in a vehicular accident on May 22, 2009 along the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road in Silang, Cavite.

However, according to Atty. Ombra Jainal, Pardo’s legal counsel, they still have no copy of the said resolution and have no way of verifying it since the DOJ office hours are already over.

Lorayne Pardo filed the said case against Gutierrez last July 23, 2009 at the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Imus, Cavite. In an interview with Philippine Entertainment Portal, Pardo expressed her desire to know what really happened the moment of the accident, hence the case.

On September 18, 2009, the Cavite Provincial Prosecutor’s Office said that there might be probable cause for the case Reckless Imprudence Resulting to Homicide to be filed against Gutierrez due to the accident. With this, Gutierrez may serve up to six years imprisonment if found guilty.

DOJ decided that this petition be reviewed separately in the same resolution of the Provincial Prosecutor of Cavite, “which found probable cause against respondent for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide as defined and penalized under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code.” The DOJ dismissed Pardo’s petition and favored Gutierrez.

Pardo’s petition says that the Provincial Prosecutor of Cavite erred “in completely disregarding the presence of the qualifying circumstance of the failure of respondent to lend immediate assistance to her husband, the deceased Nomar E. Pardo, during the fatal accident in the early morning of May 22, 2009,” to which the DOJ replied that it found "no merit in complainant’s assertion.”

On Gutierrez’s petition on the resolution of the Provincial Prosecutor of Cavite finding probable cause in the case filed by Pardo against him, DOJ stated that “not all elements of the crime of reckless imprudence have been established.” DOJ was also quoted as saying that the complainant was “testifying on matters not of her own personal knowledge,” referring to Pardo.

In addition to this, DOJ also said that “[c]omplainant could not have known the road conditions, the manner by which the accident happened, the damages caused to the vehicle and its passengers, or respondent’s actuations immediately after the accident because she simply was not present at the scene of the incident. None of the police officers who investigated the scene of the accident executed statements to identify said reports or to narrate their findings."

“Complainant’s statements are, therefore, hearsay at best and clearly inadmissible in evidence pursuant to Section 13, Rule 130 of the Revised Rules of Evidence.”

According to the Department of Justice, “We find no basis for the Provincial Prosecutor of Cavite to conclude that respondent was driving the vehicle at a ‘mind-boggling speed.’” And they said that the damage incurred by the car was not enough evidence that the “respondent was driving the same at high speed.” Moreover, DOJ said, “[a]s the complainant failed to establish the last element of the crime, i.e., that there has been inexcusable lack of precaution on the part of the offender, we cannot sustain the assailed resolution.”

Pardo’s lawyers are expected to file a motion for reconsideration after getting their copy of this resolution.

The Gutierrez family, on the other hand, celebrated the good news by holding a thanksgiving mass. In an interview, Gutierrez’s elder sister Ruffa was quoted saying “I’m very happy na na-dismiss na ‘yong kaso. Because alam niyo naman na aksidente talaga ‘yong nangyari nun and my brother was misjudged, and para sa akin pinalabass siyang isang masamang tao." (I am very happy that the case was dismissed. Everybody knows that it was an accident and my brother was just misjudged.)

Photo screencap taken from PINASWATCH5

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