Arrest warrant vs Vhong soon?
2 cases vs actor raffled to different judges
AS a matter of procedure, arrest warrants are expected to be issued against Vhong Navarro after cases of rape and acts of lasciviousness against the actor filed by Taguig City prosecutors were raffled to two different judges on Thursday, September 8, 2022.
The rape case went to Judge Loralie C. Datahan of Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 69, while the acts of lasciviousness case went to Judge Angela Francesca Din of Taguig City RTC Branch 116.
Prior to this, the Taguig City prosecutors filed a criminal case before the court against actor-host Vhong Navarro over the alleged rape of model Deniece Cornejo, back in 2014.
In a charge sheet filed before the Taguig City RTC, prosecutors accused Navarro of raping Cornejo in her rented condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City on January 17, 2014.
It was signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Irish Kay del Valle, dated August 9, but was made public only on Friday.
Navarro’s lawyers were able to obtain on the day before that a court order, signed by Taguig RTC Branch 267 Executive Judge Antonio Olivete, holding off the raffle of the rape case until his pending motions before the Court of Appeals (CA) are resolved.
The criminal cases were filed after the CA granted the petition of Cornejo challenging the junking of the rape charges she filed against Navarro before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
It can be recalled that the DOJ junked Cornejo’s rape complaint against Navarro for lack of probable cause, citing her inconsistent statements.
Navarro’s lawyer, Alma Mallonga, said they were very surprised by the CA resolution, saying the rape allegations of Cornejo had been consistently dismissed multiple times.
Cornejo, along with her former boyfriend, businessman Cedric Lee, were convicted in July 2018 for grave coercion charges filed by Navarro, who was allegedly mauled and illegally detained by Cornejo and her companions in her condominium unit on January 22, 2014. By ANCHIT MASANGCAY & HECTOR LAWAS
