Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Denial as a defense




"x x x.

As against the prosecution's strong case against the accused-appellant,
the latter merely denied the accusation against him. No one even testified to
corroborate his defense. Time and again, the Court has ruled that "a mere denial, without any strong evidence to support it, can scarcely overcome the positive declaration by the victim of the identity and involvement of appellant in the crimes attributed to him."32


In this case, the accused-appellant even failed to present any possible ground for AAA and her mother to falsely testify against him. "[A]bsent evidence showing any reason or motive for a witness to falsely testify against the accused, the
logical conclusion is that no such improper motive exists and the testimony
should be accorded full faith and credit."33 "Between the positive and categorical testimony of the rape victim on one hand and the accused's bare denial on the other, the former generally prevails."34."

x x x."


See -
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. BRICCIO BACULANTA,
G.R. No. 207513 , JUN 16, 2014.