This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2000-11-17 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| Under the circumstances, this Court cannot help viewing the execution of the Affidavit of Desistance as a confirmation of a scheme to extort money from Roberto. It is not entirely true that the unsubscribed Affidavit of Desistance has no legal effect whatsoever, and hence, must be treated as a mere scrap of paper. Evelyn admitted that she signed the affidavit. Therefore, even if not subscribed, it already partook the nature of a private document which was properly identified and authenticated during the trial under Sec. 20, Rule 132, of the Revised Rules of Court. Thus it may now be taken as proof of its contents. We cannot simply ignore that, at one point after the trial had commenced, the mother of the victim herself declared that the accused was innocent of the rape charges. While an affidavit of desistance is not generally looked upon with favor, yet, it may create serious doubts as to the liability of the accused, especially if it corroborates his explanation about the filing of the criminal charges against him.[23] | |||||