MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals has upheld the decision of the Taguig Regional Trial Court (RTC) to grant bail to businessman Cedric Lee, Simon “Zimmer” Raz, and model Deniece Cornejo.
The 3 are facing a serious illegal detention case filed by actor Vhong Navarro.
"While Navarro had indeed been detained, there is a possibility that said detention might be legal in view of citizen’s arrest and not for the purpose of kidnapping,” read the decision penned by penned by Associate Justice Renato Francisco.
"Clearly, the evidence of guilt presented by the prosecution failed to exclude all reasonable probability of any other conclusion; hence the RTC is justified in granting the application for bail," the CA’s 9th Division added.
The CA clarified that the court is not making any judgement yet on the final outcome of the case.
In September, the Department of Justice announced that it junked the rape complaint filed by Deniece against Vhong, saying the statements were "incredible," and that she "suffers from a very serious credibility issue.”
The same report also said that Cornejo showed inconsistent actions "for someone who said she was raped." (READ: Vhong Navarro thankful for dismissal of rape complaint)
Vhong accused Simon and Cedricof mauling him after he allegedly raped Cornejo in a condominium in Taguig.
The two men were arrested on April 26, 2014, in Eastern Samar. They were released on September 18, 2014, after Judge Esperanza Paz Cortes allowed them to post a bail of P500,000 each. – Rappler.com
