Former Senator Leila de Lima has filed a demurrer to evidence in a Muntinlupa court, seeking the dismissal of the last drug case filed against her by the Department of Justice in February 2017.

A demurrer to evidence is a motion by the defense to dismiss the case, arguing that the prosecution hadn’t presented enough evidence to convict the defendant. When granted, it results in acquittal, but when denied, it merely orders the defendant to present his or her evidence. De Lima filed the motion with the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206, which is handling case 17-167, one of the three cases filed by the DoJ in 2017.

De Lima and others were initially accused of illegal drug trading in the three cases, but the DoJ later modified the charges to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading. Two of the three cases were dismissed by Muntinlupa courts in 2021 and 2023.

De Lima, former Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Jesus Bucayu, Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez, and Jose Adrian Dera were accused of allowing inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa to continue to run the drug trade outside the prison using smartphones, allegedly in exchange for P70 million.

Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 last November granted De Lima and her co-accused bail.