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In the most recent session of the trial against Oscar Selgado, his attorney presented a no case submission on the basis that the crown's evidence was weak, mainly because it hinged on the missing recordings. Attorney Adoph Lucas stated that because they were audio recordings only, there was no confirmation the words were said by Selgado, despite the testimonies from both the Commissioner of Police and retired officer Wilfredo Ferrufino.
Today the Director of Public Prosecutions presented her case that there was indeed sufficient evidence to move the case forward, based on the testimonies as well as Giovanni Ramirez's statement, which the judge already ruled can be admitted as evidence. She said that collectively, it is enough to show both circumstantially and beyond reasonable doubt that the Oscar Selgado named in the statement is the same person on the dock.
Today after the proceedings, the DPP explained further.
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecution
There is sufficient evidence in the prosecution's case for the matter to proceed.
"The argument of the other side was that in the statement of Giovanni Ramirez, he speaks about Oscar Selgado but he did not ever identify that person and so they raised that as an issue, in court and at a parade. Our position is that the statement has been admitted into evidence and there's sufficient in the statement and the supporting evidence in the crown's case so that the person who he referred to as Oscar Selgado is in fact the person who was seated in the dock."
Reporter:
"The defense also made an issue of a differentiation between audio tape versus video tape. can you speak to why you consider that your submissions are strong in that case?"
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecution
"I think that the case law is clear, it does not matter if it is a tape recording or an audio/visual recording, the witnesses could have testified in relation to what they heard or what they saw even if we no longer have the disk."
The trial will resume on Wednesday, February 7th.
