Guilty ang hatol ng korte kay John Paul Solano, miyembro ng Aegis Juris Fraternity, sa obstruction of justice kaugnay ng pagkamatay ng University of Santo Tomas law student na si Horacio "Atio" Castillo III dahil sa hazing.
Ito ang unang pagbaba ng sentensiya sa hazing case ni Castillo.
Una nang tinawag si Solano na “good samaritan”, makaraang matagpuan niya ang wala nang buhay na si Castillo sa bangketa ng Tondo, at dinala ito sa Chinese General Hospital noong Setyembre 17, 2017, subalit pinabulaanan ng mga opisyal ng barangay ang kanyang salaysay.
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Kalaunan, inamin niyang nagsinungaling siya sa mga pulis dahil natatakot siya para sa sariling buhay at kalayaan, pero guilty ang hatol ng korte sa kanya sa obstruction of justice.
“His fear of being implicated in the death of Castillo is not imminent. Had accused spoken of the true incidents prior to bringing Castillo to the hospital, the matter would have been investigated first by the police before hailing him to court should they find that he acted in complicity with the others in bringing about Castillo's injuries,” saad sa pasya ng MeTC Branch 14.
“The fear which the accused claims to have overtaken him is not, in contemplation of law, as imminent as he believed, and is even speculative at that. Thus, his defense that he acted under the impulse of uncontrollable fear for his life or limb has no leg to stand on,” dagdag pa ng korte.
Hinatulan ni Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Carolina Esguerra si Solano ng hanggang apat na taon at dalawang buwang pagkakapiit dahil sa obstruction of justice.
Gayunman, nananatili pa rin siyang malaya dahil sa piyansa, at maaari rin niyang iapela ang nasabing sentensiya sa kanya.
Pinawalang-sala naman siya ng korte sa perjury.
Samantala, sinabi ng pamilya ni Castillo na ang nasabing hatol ng korte ay “first step to a perfect conviction”.
“We are very happy with the conviction of obstruction,this is what we’ve been saying that they are guilty of obstruction, they concealed, they lied,” giit ni Minnie Castillo, ina ni Atio.
-Erma R. Edera
