Luistro: If trial will have longer hours, 2 witnesses daily possible

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution may be able to present two witnesses on a single day for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial if the court adopts longer operating hours, lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said on Thursday.

In a press briefing at the Senate after the end of the pretrial conference, Luistro said part of their submissions to the Senate Impeachment Court was an inquiry as to how long a trial day would be, as the court said that trial would commence from Monday to Wednesday every 2 p.m., starting July 6.

Having two witnesses per day will shorten the trial period, but if the impeachment court cannot accommodate longer operating hours, then they might only have one witness per day.

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READ: Duterte impeachment: More teams, pretrial hours granted

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“We also inquired how long the proceedings will be during the trial, they pronounced that it will start at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, so I asked how many hours will be dedicated to the impeachment trial because that is very material for us to determine how many trial dates we will need,” Luistro said.

“If we allot a long time to the impeachment trial, we may be able to present two witnesses per trial date, otherwise if it will be short, maybe we will have just one witness lang per trial date.  But again, that concern is likewise submitted to the impeachment court,” she added.

With the pretrial conference finished, the Senate Impeachment Court is on track to starting trial by July 6.  Initially, the prosecution team asked that they be given until Saturday to finish the pretrial conference as the marking of evidence is taking longer due to the voluminous documents submitted by the prosecution for allegations of confidential fund misuse.

READ: Luistro, Poa admit: Pre-trial not yet near its ending

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Eventually, the Senate Impeachment Court allowed the prosecution to have more teams that would mark the evidence, and to conduct the pretrial conference until 7:00 p.m.

Defense caused delay

Luistro thanked the Senate Impeachment Court after the conclusion of the pretrial conference, saying that it was through the intervention that the process was expedited.

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“Of course we express our thanks and gratitude to the Impeachment Court because it is through the intervention of the Impeachment Court that we were able to finish marking, especially with voluminous documents pertaining to the article on unexplained wealth and the article on confidential fund,” she said.

However, Luistro said she put on record that the position of the defense to do separate marking of evidence — even if it concerns the same document presented by both the prosecution and the defense — caused a delay.

“And then we put on record our observation about the common exhibits that in spite of the willingness of the prosecution that we share the marking in the same exhibit — because after all, it is exactly the same, that’s why we call it common exhibit — the defense maintained their position to put their marking on a separate set of documents,” Luistro said.

“I placed on record that that position of the defense actually prolonged the process of pre-marking of the exhibits of both the defense and the prosecution.  Because if you can imagine, we’re talking about the same documents, but marking will be different, there will be a different […] comparison with respect to the prosecution and the defense’s process will be separate,” she added.

The time to check the documents, Luistro reiterated, was doubled because the prosecution wanted the same document checked.

“So in our estimate na five minutes per document, perhaps, on one party — because they have to mark on exactly the same piece of document, but on a separate copy — so the dedicated time increased by two times,” she noted.

Last Tuesday, Luistro already said that the time needed to conduct the pretrial conference for Duterte’s impeachment proceedings could have been halved if only the defense panel agreed to their request for a joint marking of common evidence.

On the same day, defense lawyer Michael Poa admitted that it appears the pre-trial conference would not be finished on Wednesday or Thursday.

Luistro said one factor that could have expedited the process is if the defense panel allowed the joint marking of common documents and evidence, but Duterte’s lawyers did not agree.

Poa, meanwhile, said that they denied the prosecution’s request for common markings as they are “being very careful with how we do things.”

READ: Defense refuses House prosecutors’ ‘common markings’ request in pretrial

Last June 9, the Senate Impeachment Court issued a notice inviting the parties to the pre-trial conference which started last June 18.

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According to the notice, the pre-trial conference is held to resolve the following matters before the trial proper:

Stipulation of facts and simplification of issues

Marking of documentary or real evidence and waiver of objections or admissions on evidence

Number and identification of witnesses

Setting of trial dates

The proposed sequence for the presentation of evidence and possible modification of the order of trial

Such other matters as will promote a fair and expeditious trial of the case /mr