After languishing in jail for more than two years for drug charges, Julius Fernandez Torillo was acquitted by the Regional Trial Court, due to reasonable doubt, at the Hall of Justice, Barangay Piapi, Dumaguete City, Friday.

Torillo shed tears as the decision was handed down Friday by RTC Branch 30 Judge Crescencio Tan Jr.

Torillo later told the DAILY STAR that he was happy that the wheels of justice are still working in the country.

He claimed to have been framed by the police for defending a neighbor who was falsely accused of an alleged drug offense by law enforcers.

Court records show that on February 22, 2006, Lando Remedio was apprehended for allegedly selling shabu to a police-poseur buyer at Upper Lukewright, in Dumaguete.

Torillo said the police may have been irked at him for defending his neighbor, Remedio, and charged him instead with selling shabu in violation of Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The court noted with particularity the failure of the arresting police officers to present the testimony of the police-poseur buyer.

One of the photographs presented as evidence by the police, also bolstered the claim of the accused that he was not placed under arrest but his friend Remedio, whose charges were dismissed by the City Prosecutor’s Office, court records further reveal.

Tan said the version of the prosecution may appear to have proved the elements of the crime charged, but the version of the defense is also believable.

Meanwhile, a woman said she pleaded guilty last Friday to the crime of illegal possession of shabu in order to join her mother who is also detained for violation of the anti-drugs law.

Maria Flor Garcia told the DAILY STAR she wanted to be with her mother, Maria Cuba, who is also facing anti-drugs charges.*JG

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