BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

STATE lawyers, in a rare turnabout last December, assailed the findings of Department of Justice prosecutors that led to the conviction of former Occidental Mindoro Gov. Jose Villarosa for the 1997 murders of Michael Quintos, 31, a barangay captain, and his brother Paul, 27, whose father former Rep. Ricardo Quintos is Villarosa’s political rival.

Then Solicitor General Antonio Eduardo Nachura said the prosecution failed to establish a conspiracy when it based its evidence on the extrajudicial confession of Eduardo Hermoso, one of the co-accused, which is inadmissible in court.

Nachura now sits as associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Justice reporters stumbled on the OSG recommendation after reports flew that Villarosa was moving freely around the NBP compound, prompting them to ask the OSG about the status of the murder case before the CA.

Villarosa and seven others were sentenced to die last year by the Quezon City regional trial court for the killings of Paul and Michael on Dec. 13, 1997. They are detained at the National Bilibid Prisons while their case is pending in the Court of Appeals.

In a 50-page manifestation filed in December 2006, Nachura asked the CA to acquit Villarosa, Ruben Balaguer, Gelito Bautista and Mario Tobias, on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

"Doubts abound on the complicity of the appellants to their deaths. The exacting standard for conviction is proof beyond reasonable doubt. It is unfortunate that the prosecution failed to meet this standard," Nachura said.

He said the recommendation for the acquittal of appellants Villarosa, Balaguer, Bautista and Tobias "does not suggest that they are innocent," except that their participation in the murders was not proven beyond reasonable doubt.

The OSG argued the prosecution failed to sufficiently prove Hermoso’s admission that they conspired to kill the Quintos brothers. It further said the prosecution did not offer any evidence that the accused indeed came to an agreement concerning the commission of the crime.

On Feb. 3, 2006, Judge Ma. Theresa de la Torre-Yadao of Quezon City rendered a decision finding all the accused, along with Barigueco Calara and Manolito Matricio, guilty of killing the Quintos brothers, relying heavily on Hermoso’s confession.

In her 86-page decision, Yadao said there was evident premeditation and treachery in the killing of Michael and Paul by armed men who attacked the house of their friend in Mamburao during a birthday party.

The lower court gave credence to the testimony of Hermoso, who pointed to Villarosa as the mastermind.

The OSG pointed out that Hermoso repudiated his extrajudicial confession and stated that he was coerced, forced, threatened and intimidated to admit participation in the murder of the Quintos brothers and to implicate Villarosa, as well as the other persons he named in his affidavit.

"For these reasons, Hermoso’s extrajudicial confession is inadmissible in evidence. The existence of conspiracy has not been sufficiently established by proof independent of Hermoso’s confession or admission," Nachura said.