Dumipensa si Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, lead defense counsel ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, na hindi umano sapat ang mga kontrobersyal na pahayag noon ng kaniyang kliyente para ikonekta sa extrajudicial killing kaugnay sa war on drugs.
"It is not enough simply to assert Rodrigo Duterte said outrageous things, and that deaths occurred — and so, as a result, he must be criminally responsible," saad ni Kaufman sa ikatlong confirmation of charges hearing sa International Criminal Court nitong Huwebes, Pebrero 26.
Giit pa niya, "There is a requirement, for what is called the causal nexus. The prosecution has to show which one of Duterte's statements, orders, or commands were given to a specific individual who then went out pull the trigger or communicated the command to someone else who also went out and pull the trigger killing one of its 78 identified victims that would have been a classical way to prove a clausal link between stuff that came out of Rodrigo Duterte's mouth , to the deaths pertinent of the case."
Depensa pa ni Kaufman na hindi iyon ginawa ng prosecution.
Kaugnay nito, matatandaang noong unang confirmation of charges hearing noong Pebrero 23, iniisa-isa ni ICC Trial lawyer Edward Jeremy ang mga video ng naging kontrobersyal na pahayag ni FPRRD noon, tulad ng pag-uutos daw niya sa kapulisan na bilisan ang pagsasagawa ng pagpatay upang kumita ang negosyo ng mga funeraria noong Hunyo 30, 2016.
