In January 2014, Model Deniece Cornejo filed two counts of rape case through sexual intercourse and attempted rape which reportedly happened inside Cornejo’s condominium in Taguig City.
The 24-page resolution stated “As complainant evidence stands, the same does not establish probable cause to indict respondent for the crimes he is accused of committing.”
In a review resolution rendered by OIC Prosecutor General Severino Gaña dismissed the rape and attempted rape charges against Navarro. The decision was handed down on September 6, released only Friday September 22, 2017.
The DOJ reversed earlier recommendation indicting Navarro on said offenses.
The DOJ stressed the case suffered “serious credibility issue.”
“Both Cornejo and her story are incredible. The storyteller suffers very serious credibility issue, the three affidavits concerning the same incidents showed inconsistencies and her demeanor after the supposed rape incident on January 22, 2014 showed in CCTV footage were inconsistent with the actuation and demeanor of a person whose rights has just been violated,” the decision cited.
The decision added that the CCTV footage showing “Businessman Cedric Lee was even seen kissing Cornejo in an elevator after they brought Navarro to the police station.”
Cornejo had alleged Navarro sexually abused her on January 17, 2014 and five days later on January 22, the date the actor was mauled by the group of businessman Cedric Lee, resulting in the actor’s hospitalization for multiple injuries.
Lee claimed that they mauled Navarro after they caught him trying to rape Cornejo.
However, the DOH noticed that Cornejo “changed her story each time a rape case is filed.”
The 24-page resolution stated “As complainant evidence stands, the same does not establish probable cause to indict respondent for the crimes he is accused of committing.”
The DOJ conducted three investigations in connection with the case, but the charges against Navarro were dismissed in the first two investigations.
“At least three investigations had been conducted into the accusations of complainant against respondent — by the DOJ’s three-member panel, the Office of the City Prosecutor in Taguig and by the City Prosecutor of Manila…In all three investigations, the credibility of complainant’s story has been passed upon and ruled to be questionable,” the DOJ review resolution stated.
In the decision, the prosecutor stressed “to be sure, no story is unbelievable if the storyteller is credible.”-Harold V. Pontongan/Newsline.ph
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