Pasay court junks quash motion of Muhlach suspects

The arraignment and pre-trial of two men accused of rape through sexual assault, in a case filed by actor Sandro Muhlach, proceeded Wednesday after a Pasay court denied a motion to quash filed by the defense.

During the arraignment, Atty. Maggie Abraham-Garduque, the lawyer for accused Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz, entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.

Abraham-Garduque stated that the motion to quash was denied, allowing the trial to proceed. She confirmed that during the arraignment and pre-trial, the accused were read the information regarding the accusations against them, and they both pleaded not guilty.

Previously, the Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court dismissed two counts of acts of lasciviousness filed against Nones and Cruz.

Pasay court Branch 46, on 7 February granted Nones and Cruz’s motion to quash those charges.

The court ruled that filing separate charges of acts of lasciviousness was an “overkill” because those acts could be considered elements of rape through sexual assault, which the Department of Justice had filed in the Pasay Regional Court.

“Indeed, the acts of lasciviousness being complained of before this court are necessarily included in the charge of rape before the RTC,” the Pasay court stated in its earlier ruling.

“Again, the prosecution resorted to an overkill by filing the instant Information for Acts of Lasciviousness when clearly the acts are constitutive and/or simultaneous and are deemed absorbed in the rape case with the alleged sole intent and purpose of arousing and ultimately gratifying the accused’ own sexual desires,” the court added.