The Sandiganabayn junked a motion to reinstate Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada’s conviction.
The resolution promulgated on November 27, 2024, the court upheld their decision to acquit Estrada of direct and indirect bribery charges, due to a lack of merit in the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration. The motion was filed last September 2, stating that the court “gravely erred” with the reversal of Estrada’s original ruling.
Estrada was convicted of one count of direct bribery under Article 210 and two counts of indirect bribery under Article 211 of the Revised Penal Code. In August this year, the court reversed its ruling and cleared Estada of his charges due to a lack of evidence.
“The prosecution's motion for reconsideration seeks the reversal of the order of acquittal which is proscribed by the Constitution and by the rules,” the resolution read.
The motion was filed to convince the court of its “erroneous and improper" ruling. However, the court noted that revisiting the case’s findings would place Estrada in double jeopardy.
“Besides, the instant motion seeks to revisit the factual findings of Estrada’s acquittal that would place the latter in double jeopardy. His acquittal cannot be assailed under the guise of a motion for reconsideration as the first jeopardy has already [been] attached which will be discussed hereunder,” it stated.
Double jeopardy states that when a person is charged with an offense and is terminated by acquittal, conviction, or in any other manner without the consent of the accused, they cannot be charged a second time with the identical offense.
With that, the court agreed that the case fell under the rule of double jeopardy, junking the earlier motion.
Estrada’s conviction stemmed from his involvement with the infamous pork barrel scam in 2013. At the time, an investigation was conducted, where several lawmakers like former senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile were implicated. Additionally, Janet Lim Napoles was said to be the mastermind, and dubbed as the “Pork barrel queen.”
