23 September 2008

DR. MARLOWE INDO

Surigao Health Specialists
Surigao City

Dear Dr. Indo:

I am constrained to write you this letter to let you know the

quandary we are in.

I am handling the defense of one Rolly Ampo y Oliva, accused

for the crime of Homicide in Criminal Case No. 11502 pending
before the RTC Branch 2, Butuan City.

This case is rather unique in the sense that the only direct
evidence adduced by the prosecution insofar as the guilt of my
client is concerned is based on the so-called dying declaration
of the victim when, while being attended to in the hospital, he
intimated that he was stabbed by my client.

Based on the testimony of Dr. Joel Arturo S. de Jesus, the

attending doctor, he performed operations to the victim three
hours after the victim was admitted. During the cross-
examination, the doctor admitted that the victim was
intoxicated which may have precipitated the loss of blood. The
amount of blood loss he sustained, in turn, affected his
sensorium.

I want to emphasize, Sir, that my duty as counsel of the

accused, is the same as much as that of the prosecution – to let
the truth prevail. It is not my aim to prove the innocence of my
client, for this is rather presumed under our law. I am bound by
my Oath of Office to see to it that if my client is to be
convicted, the conviction should be based on evidence beyond
a shadow of doubt. However, I expressed doubt on the
prosecution’s theory based on dying declaration. Not only that
this so-called dying declaration was told and heard only by his
relative, his aunt in particular, despite the fact that he was
being attended to by Dr. Joel Arturo De Jesus who made no
mention of the same, there is likewise reasonable doubt that
my client perpetrated the acts against the victim considering
the number, type and location of the wounds, which, in my
unsolicited opinion, can only be perpetrated by several
persons.

Granting that there was such dying declaration, it is my humble

belief that the intoxication of the victim, coupled with the
significant blood loss affecting his sensorium, may have
affected his ability to perceive and make known his perception
to others, in such a matter that what he allegedly uttered
conceived as a dying declaration by the prosecution may be
just a product of delirium, if not, halucination.

Considering that the only person qualified to testify on the

possible combined effects of intoxication and blood loss is a
person of your expertise and competence, I am asking your
help, with bended knees, so to speak, to give your expert
opinion on this matter come this September 29, 2008 at 9:00
o’clock in the morning. I seek your opinion because this may
make a difference between freedom and incarceration,
between a life with meaning and a life in jail. I need not stress
that this too, is the prayer of his father and mother, who could
not believe that their son is the perpetrator, but is made to
languish in jail.

Attached please find the Medical Certificate and the Transcript

of the testimony of Dr. Joel Arturo S. De Jesus for your ready
reference. I was able to get your mobile number thru the efforts
of my brother-in-law, Dr. Arnel Sanchez, of Surigao Health
Speacialists. You may contact me thru my mobile
09209241384, preferably on any afternoon of any day at your
convenience.

I write you this letter guided by the principle that it is better to

let go a thousand criminals than to convict a single innocent.

This letter then, is carried with lofty purposes, but its

materialization is almost a question of your sympathy and
consideration. Will you help my client, Sir?

Very truly yours,

ATTY. HENRY C. FILOTEO
Counsel for the Accused Rolly Ampo