Webb walks; Alfaro claims not credible By Benjamin B. Pulta 12/15/2010

Webb walks; Alfaro claims not credible

By Benjamin B. Pulta 12/15/2010

Hubert Webb and his co-accused, all convicted by two lower courts 15 years ago, walked free yesterday after the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted them on the basis of Webb’s strong and incontrovertible alibi that he was not in the Philippines when the Vizconde massacre occurred. As the case was a conspiracy, the other accused were set free, save for two who are still at large.

A ruling by the SC voting 7 to 4 cleared Hubert Jeffrey Webb and six others in connection with the 1991 Vizconde massacre.

In a 38-page decision, the high tribunal through Associate Justice Roberto Abad said the testimony of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) asset Jessica Alfaro four years after the incident raised reasonable doubts about the guilt of the accused in the murder of a mother and her two daughters in a Parañaque City suburb.

“The positive identification of the offender must come from a credible witness. She is credible who can be trusted to tell the truth, usually based on past experiences with her. Her word has,to one who knows her, its weight in gold,” the decision said, addingthe said “the witness’ story of what she personally saw must be believable, not inherently contrived.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101215hed1.html